Zenit St Petersburg look to consolidate their lead in the Russian Premier League against Rubin Kazan on Sunday ahead of their Europa League quarter-final at Sevilla next week.
The Saint Petersburg club, who top the table with 54 points from 22 matches, 10 clear of FC Krasnodar, are on course to win domestic title, which their manager Andre Villas-Boas considered to be his team’s main goal of the season, as soon as possible.
“Our goal, first and foremost, is to win the Premier League and to do that as quickly as possible,” the former Porto, Chelsea and Tottenham manager said.
“If we do well in the Europa League that will be nice, but the main task is to win the championship title.”
FC Krasnodar, fresh from their hard-fought 2-1 win at Rubin in midweek, will try to keep Zenit under pressure by beating city rivals Kuban in a derby clash that opens the matchday schedule on Saturday.
FC Krasnodar, unbeaten in their last 11 Premiership matches, will try to grab the lead in the derby’s record as both clubs have won three of their previous meetings in the Premiership, while their season’s first match ended in a 1-1 draw.
“This match will be special for both clubs as the league’s only non-Moscow derby always attract the attention of the country’s football fans,” FC Krasnodar manager Oleg Kononov said.
“I’m pleased with my team’s performance in recent matches but on Saturday we shall be extremely focused because everything is possible in a derby clash.”
Reigning champions CSKA Moscow, who suffered consecutive 2-1 defeats in their last two league outings, face bottom-placed Amkar Perm.
This season the Red Army side have lost both of their meetings with Zenit and Dynamo and lost at Krasnodar in their first encounter. But they still hope to climb into second place and a Champions League spot next season.
“Now it’s almost unrealistic to catch Zenit,” CSKA and Finland international midfielder Roman Eremenko, who has been named Premiership’s Player of the Month three times since joining the Red Army club in August, said.
“In this situation we have no other choice but to finish in second. It’s our main goal for the remainder of the season.”
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Saturday
FC Krasnodar v Kuban Krasnodar (1600)
Sunday
Zenit St Petersburg v Rubin Kazan (1030), Ufa v Arsenal Tula (1300), Dynamo Moscow v Mordovia Saransk (1530)
Monday
Ural Yekaterinburg v Lokomotiv moscow (1200), Amkar Perm v CSKA Moscow (1415), Torpedo Moscow v Terek Grozny (1500), Rostov v Spartak Moscow (1630)