Real Betis vs Zenit St. Petersburg Match Analysis and Prediction

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Zenit St. Petersburg will make a trip to the Estadion Benito Villamarin to face Real Betis on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa League knockout round playoff tie.

The hosts have the upper hand following their 3-2 victory in the first leg in St. Petersburg last Thursday, and they enter the contest off the back of four conecutive victories across all competitions.

Real Betis got off to the perfect start in St. Petersburg last week, leading within the first 18 minutes with goals from Guido Rodriguez and Willian Jose.

However, Zenit hit back with two quick goals as efforts from Malcom and Artem Dzyuba levelled the game before Andres Guardado scored four minutes before half time to give Real Betis a narrow victory of the day.

Los Verdiblancos followed that victory with another win in La Liga on Sunday as goals from Alex Moreno and Willian Jose led Manuel Pellegrini’s sice to a 2-1 home victory over Mallorca.

Having lost only four of their 17 competitive games at home this season, Real Betis will be confident of getting a positive result that would see them progress to the last 16.

With the Russian Premier League not returning into action from their winter break until this weekend, Zenit have had a week to review the 3-2 defeat from the first leg.

Sergei Samak will not only be disappointed with the defeat, but he will also be displeased that the loss ended a five-game unbeaten home run in all competitions.

Despite the first leg being Zenit’s first competitive match of 2022, it perhaps was not surprising that Sergei Samak’s side started slowly in last week’s tie.

Zenit’s recent away form will leave the Russian Premier League champions feeling less confident, having won just two of their last 10 competitive away matches.

Real Betis vs Zenit St. Petersburg head to head

The two sides have previously met on just one occasion in the first leg of the Europa League this season, with Real Betis have taken a 3-2 away victory.

Zenit 2-3 Real Betis 17/02/22

Real Betis latest home form

Real Betis have recently been on a good form at home, as they have lost just one of their four most recent matches. They managed to defeat Sevilla 2-1 in the Copa del Rey on January 16. In their last five matches, they have scored 8 goals and conceded 6.

Real Betis 0-2 Celta Vigo 02/01/22

Real Betis 2-1 Sevilla 16/01/22

Real Betis 4-0 Alaves 18/01/22

Real Betis 0-2 Villarreal 06/02/22

Real Betis 2-1 Mallorca 20/02/22

Real Betis latest away form

Real Betis have recently been on an impressive run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their seven most recent away matches. They recently managed to defeat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 in the Copa del Rey. In their last five matches, they have scored 17 goals and conceded 6.

Espanyol 1-4 Real Betis 21/01/22

Real Sociedad 0-4 Real Betis 03/02/22

Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Real Betis 09/02/22

Levante 2-4 Real Betis 13/02/22

Zenit 2-3 Real Betis 17/02/22

Zenit St. Petersburg latest home form

Zenit lost their last home game 3-2 to Real Betis in the Europa League. However, they have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in eight matches prior to that. In their last five matches, they have won three, drawn one and lost one.

Zenit 3-3 Chelsea 08/12/21

Zenit 3-0 Emirates 19/01/22

Zenit 5-0 Zilina 25/01/22

Zenit 1-0 Midtjylland 03/02/22

Zenit 2-3 Real Betis 17/02/22

Zenit St. Petersburg latest away form

Zenit have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their last six matches. Their last away defeat came on November 2 when they lost 4-2 to Juventus in the Champions League. In their last five matches, they have scored 5 goals and conceded 4.

Malmo 1-1 Zenit 23/11/21

CSKA Moscow 0-2 Zenit 28/11/21

Dinamo Moscow 1-1 Zenit 12/12/21

FC Copenhagen 1-1(P) Zenit 10/02/22

Brondby 1-2 Zenit 11/02/22

Real Betis news

Real Betis will be missing the services of Victor Camarasa, Martin Montoya and Juan Miranda due to injury issues.

Nabil Fekir will be available for Thursday’s contest after missing the first leg through suspension, while Sergio Canales is likely to feature after missing last time out due to COVID-19 infection.

Zenit St. Petersburg news

Zenit will not be able to call upon the services of Stanislav Kritsyuk and Dejan Lovren who are injury absentees.

Yuri Alberto and Ivan Sergeev both made their debuts for Zenit last week with substitute appearances, but the pair may have to wait a little longer for their first starts.

Prediction and Odds

Real Betis have have recently been finding it easy to get to the back of the net, having scored 23 goals in their previous eight games in all competitions.

That said they could take advantage of any gaps left as Zenit will be pressing for a victory, hence a home victory here.

Odds: 1 1.90 X 2.05 2 2.35