27.04.2018 12:11 h

Lokomotiv closing in on first domestic title in 14 years

Russian Premier League leaders Lokomotiv Moscow can clinch their first domestic title since 2004 when they visit fifth-place Krasnodar in the last match of the weekend's fixtures.

Even though Lokomotiv dropped points with a pair of goalless home draws last week, they are six points clear of second-placed city rivals CSKA.

With three games remaining, Lokomotiv who took four points from their two matches with CSKA, need only three points to claim the championship.

But Krasnodar also need a victory. They are still in the race for a spot in next season's Champions League.

Lokomotiv had to play an extra rescheduled match against Akhmat Grozny last week but have not played since their draw with Ufa on Sunday.

Lokomotiv head coach Yury Syomin, who blamed physical tiredness for the two draws, said he hoped the Monday kick off would give his team time to recover.

"The postponed match with Akhmat broke our schedule making it more busy," Lokomotiv press service quoted him as saying. "Maybe that was the reason for our inability to break through our opponents' compact defence in recent games as at the end of the season the players need more time for recovery."

"Krasnodar will likely play attacking football in front of their home crowd as they need points to earn a place in the Champions League. I expect my men to perform at Krasnodar much better than against the teams that have been sitting back throughout our recent games."

Second-placed CSKA also face a team who need to win when they visit Roberto Mancini's Zenit St Petersburg.

Though Zenit are eight points behind Lokomotiv and have only a vanishingly small chance to claim the title, victory would allow them to overtake CSKA and improve their chances of earning Champions League berth.

"We should have won our previous match at Tula," Mancini told Zenit's official site. "It's a pity that we missed the victory. Now we have no other choice but to win all three remaining games to gain the Champions League spot."

Reigning champions Spartak, who have lost their last two league games to FC Ural and Akhmat and were also knocked out of the Russian Cup in midweek on penalties by relegation-haunted Tosno, visit another team near the bottom of the table, Amkar Perm.

"We hadn't lost a single league match for almost eight months since September but in the match with Ural something changed for the worse," Spartak manager Massimo Carrera said.

"My men have suddenly lost motivation. Last season we had a passion for win and that made us champions. We need to get this feeling back to start winning again."

Fixtures (all times GMT)