In unprecedented conditions, due to sanctions by UEFA, without a clear picture of any future, the 31st championship from the beginning of this Friday with a clash between Khimki and the defending champions Zenit. Supported by money from Gazprom, the team from St. Petersburg retained almost all the players that wanted. The contracts of Artyom Dzyuba and Magomed Ozdoev have expired, and only the Brazilian Yuri Alberto "escaped", he went on loan to Corinthians. Again, Zenit has the strongest team in Russia and everything except another title would be a huge surprise. The Russian Super Cup last Saturday showed us what kind of season we can expect. Zenit overcame the winner of the National Cup Spartak Moscow 4-0, with goals from Sergeev, Malcolm, Wendel and Cassiera, and it could easily have been more convincing. By winning the trophy, Sergej Semak's team showed that, by all accounts, they will dominate this season as well. Khimki is happy that he will perform in the elite this season. The "Red and Black" were consistently at the bottom of the table last year, and they avoided relegation in the playoffs when they were better than SKA Khabarovsk in two matches. Zenit won the previous ten duels, there is no doubt that they are the favourites to record their 11th triumph.

My prediction;

Outcome: Zenit to win -1.5