31.07.2014 13:13 h

Russia's big guns square up for new season

Red Army side CSKA Moscow start their defence of the Russian Premier League title this weekend bracing for an offensive by Andre Villas-Boas' Zenit St Petersburg.

CSKA start against city rivals Torpedo Moscow, who are back in the top league for the first time since 2006. Zenit, who have brought in Argentina's World Cup defender Ezequiel Garay, will take on other league newcomers Arsenal Tula.

Even though they have four top players injured, CSKA won Russia's Super Cup on Saturday, battling back from a goal down to beat national cup winners Rostov 3-1.

"It was very important for us to win this trophy as we've experienced personnel problems," said CSKA head coach Leonid Slutsky.

CSKA start the campaign without injured Russian internationals Alan Dzagoev and Georgy Shchennikov, Latvian midfielder Aleksandrs Cauna and Sweden's stopper Rasmus Elm, who has stomach problems .

The Torpedo match will be "a serious test of our readiness for the new season," the coach said.

Villas-Boas, starting his first full season with Zenit who finished second in 2013-14, said his players are hungry for success. "Our goal is to win the Russian league and to gain a place in Europe's top 10," the former Porto, Chelsea and Tottenham manager said.

The Portuguese coach vowed to pursue a "much more offensive football." However their defeat on Wednesday to Cyprus minnows AEL in the Champions League third qualifying round has raised doubts about Zenit's readiness.

Villas-Boas was unable to explain the loss.

"We dominated the play but squandered all of our chances while the hosts capitalised on their rare opportunity," he said.

Another Moscow side, Lokomotiv, two-time former champions and bronze medal winners' last season, are also among the title contenders.

The manager of the railway-backed side, Leonid Kuchuk, has said Lokomotiv are good enough to win the national title for the first time in a decade.

"Last season we had fair chances to win the Russian title but missed it at the season's very end," he said. "But last season wasn't a complete disaster as Lokomotiv won their first league medal since 2006.

"Now I know what we are missing and why we have failed to grab the title. I hope this time we will be able to learn from our past mistakes to a make a further step ahead."

The country's most successful club Spartak Moscow open the Premier league on Friday when they take on two-time champions Rubin Kazan

Nine-time league winners Spartak are now under Swiss manager Murat Yakin, who took over the Moscow side in the summer break.

"I can assure all our supporters that Spartak are ready for the start of the new season," said Yakin, who led Swiss high-flyers Basel, to back-to-back national titles.

"Of course it will be hard to start the season with a series of six away matches but the team's performance in recent warm-up encounters showed that my players have gained their form," he told Russian media.

"Spartak have not won Russia's title since 2001 and I think now it is the right time to change the situation for the better," said Yakin.