Zenit St Petersburg can take a huge step towards the Russian Premier League title when they visit defending champions Lokomotiv Moscow on Sunday.

Zenit, who are seeking their fifth league title, are six points clear of second-placed Lokomotiv and Krasnodar with 10 games remaining.

Sergei Semak's side lead their head-to-head record with Lokomotiv in the post-Soviet era with 16 wins, compared to the capital club's 14 victories, and the coach is keen to improve that record as he searches for Zenit's first league title since 2015.

"In the recent matches we often started disorderly and conceded early goals," Semak told Zenit's website.

"We shouldn't repeat this mistake against Lokomotiv. They're a strong and well-organised team and it may be too costly to let them gain the lead."

Semak added that he expected the Iranian 24-year-old forward Sardar Azmoun, who joined Zenit from Rubin Kazan in February and has since scored seven goals in the last seven matches, will be equally deadly in the upcoming encounter.

Lokomotiv are on a run of three straight wins and coach Yury Syomin said he was happy with his team's recent run of good form, which has given his team a chance to draw within three points of Zenit and retaining the title.

"Those who wrote us off after our unimpressive start into the season were too hasty," he said. "We've played quality football in our recent matches to join title race.

"There's no doubt that the match with Zenit will be tough as both teams desperately need points. Hopefully, we will be ready for it."

Meanwhile, Spartak Moscow and CSKA Moscow will on Saturday clash for the 186th time in a derby that dates back to 1922.

Spartak boss Oleg Kononov said his team's 3-1 win over Akhmat Grozny gave him optimism for the clash with his cross town rivals.

"My team demonstrated excellent motivation and spirit in Grozny," Kononov said.

"Now we need to play in a similar way against CSKA. It's a very important game for both teams and I expect an uncompromising battle on Saturday."

CSKA chief Viktor Gancharenko said he expected his team to bounce back from a disappointing 2-2 home draw with struggling Ufa, in which the visitors levelled in the third minute of stoppage time.

"It's hard to accept this result," Gancharenko said. "We were in complete control for the majority of the game but in the very end Ufa punished us for our loss of concentration.

"Now we need to put this mistake behind us to prepare for the meeting with Spartak."