Zenit U21 will play against CSKA-Junior on the road

The youth team of the blue-whites will play a two-game away series against Moscow's CSKA-Junior. The home team currently leads the standings after 14 games in the regular season, having suffered only one away loss in Nizhny Novgorod (59:57).

The last matches, like Zenit U21, Alexander Gusev's team played at home against Lokomotiv Kuban-2. The matches followed entirely different scenarios. In the first game, the army team seized the initiative right from the first quarter (86:76). In the second, a close contest persisted at least until the third quarter (85:71).

The best player for the Moscow team in these games, and their overall leader this season, is Nikolay Natsvlishvili. The 19-year-old forward is averaging 20.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks per game in the current Youth League campaign.

In the history of the VTB United Youth League, Zenit U21 and CSKA-Junior have faced each other 32 times, with a perfect tie in the series — 16 wins each.

Head coach of Zenit U21 Roman Knyazev shared his expectations for the trip to Moscow:

Our players worked hard during this break and are motivated, as we’re about to face the league’s leader. We hope to bring our ideas to life and achieve a positive result.

The games against the army team will take place on November 29 and 30 at the Dynamo Sport Palace in Moscow. Both matches will start at 14:00 St. Petersburg time. Live streams will be available on the VTB United Youth League website.