Moscow masters: fans are waiting for two capital derbies at once

It's rare to see two Moscow derbies in the same round of the Russian Football Championship at once, but that's exactly what will happen in the upcoming 11th round of the Russian Premier League. On Sunday, we will have a match between CSKA and Spartak, the most fundamental confrontation in our football. A day earlier, Dynamo and Lokomotiv Moscow will play against each other. However, the coming weekend is not only rich in these games. The reigning champion Krasnodar will host Akhmat Grozny, which has not lost in the championship for seven consecutive matches.

CSKA Moscow – Spartak

For decades now, this derby has been considered the toughest and most principled confrontation in the RPL. And it is almost always interesting not only because of the bright poster, but also because of the standings of both clubs. Their next face-to-face meeting is no exception. Both CSKA and Spartak are competing for medals. Moreover, the army team leads the championship after ten rounds. They need to win in order to consolidate their superiority over their competitors.

In turn, Spartak is in fifth place, but only three points behind the first. And in case of victory, CSKA will catch up. The red and white have failed to start the championship, but they have not lost for six rounds in a row. And we almost made up for lost time. If they win, they will confidently join the race for gold.

— A lot will depend on the refereeing of the match, — Andrey Chervichenko, the former owner of Spartak, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — If they help the red-whites again, as is often the case, including in such derbies, then CSKA will definitely face a difficult match. Otherwise, the army team is definitely the favorites, both in terms of game and composition. Their squad may be inferior to Spartak's in some positions, but it is more balanced. But Spartak didn't have a proper defense, and they still don't. And the attack group, bought for several tens of millions of euros, still does not shine with stability — the same Ugalde, Jedson, Levi and Solari sometimes give out bright matches, then fail. If they catch the courage and the fart, as they sometimes do, then Spartak can win. But CSKA is still stronger at the distance.

Dynamo – Lokomotiv

Like Spartak, Dynamo Moscow also had a bad start to the current championship, but its crisis lasted longer. If the red and white began to rise in mid-August, the blue and white have been rising since September. First there was a draw with Spartak (2:2), and then away wins over Orenburg (3:1) and Samara Wings of the Soviets (3:2).

But the level of the last two rivals is now such that, perhaps, it is too early to talk about the prospects of Dynamo to join the fight for medals. And in many ways, their current level will determine the upcoming derby with Lokomotiv. So far, Dynamo are in seventh place, six points behind the leader.

In turn, Loko is on the second line, losing one point to CSKA. The Railwaymen have not lost a single match in the current championship. But at the same time, they ended up with a draw in half of the past games. And they missed a good chance for leadership, and with a comfortable gap from the competition. Now they need to beat Dynamo to improve their position in the fight for gold.

"There is no favorite here — both teams play with fluctuations, but they have the potential to compete for high places," Dmitry Bulykin, a former forward of Lokomotiv and Dynamo, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — The chances are equal — a lot depends on the performance skills of the players in specific episodes and the ability of the coaches to minimize the mistakes of their players. Lokomotiv is looking pretty good this season, and a year ago they managed to select a squad from a large group of young and hungry guys, adding several experienced players to them. The symbol of the former is Alexey Batrakov, the symbol of the latter is Dmitry Barinov. When they're in shape, Loko is capable of a lot. And I really want the team to achieve great victories, especially in spite of Zenit and Spartak, who spend tens of millions of euros on foreign players, many of whom do not strengthen our championship. I hope that Lokomotiv will show that it is not necessary to do this, but you can achieve success with your young players.

On Thursday, Dynamo's official resources published sensational news — Dmitry Gafin, chairman of the club's board of directors, resigned at his own request. He had held the position since January 2024, and had been a member of the board of directors since the summer of 2019, even then making most of the key personnel decisions at the club. Under his leadership, Dynamo, which had been in the middle or bottom of the table for many years, began to consistently compete for medals and trophies for the first time in a quarter of a century. It won bronze twice (in 2022 and 2024) at the Russian Championship, and was also closer than ever to the first trophy in the form of the Cup of Russia since 1995 (it reached the final in 2022), and in 2024 the blue and white were just one point short of winning the national championship for the first time since 1976.

"Gafin left a pleasant impression of his work, making Dynamo a stable contender for high places," Bulykin added. — It is still difficult to say how his departure will affect the team. After all, the sports component depends more on the head coach and the sports director, while Gafin was engaged in more strategic management. I don't think his departure will have an impact right now, but how things go forward depends on who will make the key decisions. Now Dynamo seems to have recovered after a bad start to the season, but the level of opponents that the team defeated in September is still not the level to talk about the prospects of the blue and white. A lot depends on the derby with Loko, where the opponent's class is higher, so the pressure on the players will be different.

Krasnodar – Akhmat

The current champion of Russia, Krasnodar, was in the lead in the current championship two weeks ago. But then there was a home defeat against Zenit St. Petersburg (0:2) and an away draw with Rostov (0:0). Because of this, the Bulls fell back to third place, one point behind the leader.

Now Akhmat will try to take advantage of their decline, which continues to go undefeated in the championship after the appointment of Stanislav Cherchesov as head coach. The Grozny team has not lost for seven rounds in a row. And before the coach change, they had three defeats in the first three rounds and one of the last places. They have now moved up to eighth place in the table and are only six points behind the first.

There will also be five more matches in the upcoming 11th round. Sochi, which is in last place, will host Nizhny Novgorod, which occupies the penultimate 15th place in the table. Zenit St. Petersburg will visit Akron Togliatti. Rubin Kazan will play at home with Krylia Sovetov Samara. Orenburg will face Rostov at home, and Kaliningrad Baltika will face Dynamo Makhachkala.