The upcoming clash between Akron and Rubin promises to be a tense affair as both sides look to bounce back from opening day disappointments in the Russian league. Serbian coach Srdjan Blagojevic will be desperate to erase the memory of that heavy five goal hammering against Zenit, where his side looked completely lost at the back. At home in front of their own fans Akron simply cannot afford another collapse like that, especially with the pressure building on the foreign coach after just one game. Rubin also started with a loss but showed more fight despite playing with ten men for most of the match against Krasnodar.
Local fans in Nigeria will recognise this kind of situation where a new coach comes in with big ideas but the old defensive leaks show up straight away. Akron have been leaking goals like a broken pipe and their defenders keep making costly mistakes that gift chances to the opposition strikers. Rubin on the other hand kept things together even when down to ten men and their Albanian striker Mirlinda Daku still looks sharp enough to cause problems before any big money move comes his way.
Team Form
- Akron suffered a 0-5 defeat to Zenit in their season opener with massive defensive errors on show
- Rubin lost 1-3 to Krasnodar but scored while playing with ten men for over seventy minutes
- History shows Akron have never beaten Rubin in eight previous meetings across league and cup
- Both sides drew their two league games last season which helped Akron stay up
Tactical Analysis
Blagojevic needs to sort out his backline fast because the way they played against the champions made them look like a training cone drill for the opposition forwards. Rubin will likely sit compact and wait for transitions knowing that one clean strike could be enough on the road. Daku remains the main threat up front for the visitors and his movement could stretch Akron’s shaky defence even further if they push too many men forward.
Expect plenty of long balls and second ball battles in the middle as both teams try to avoid the kind of individual errors that decided the opening weekend fixtures. Akron must improve their organisation at set pieces or Rubin could nick something from a dead ball situation.
Betting Proposal
Given the poor home record against this opponent and the shaky defence on display it makes sense to back the visitors to at least avoid defeat. Fora 2 with 0 at odds of 1.72 looks the value here as Rubin should have enough to grab a point or better on their travels.
