On 19 October each of the four groups will host a match. In quartet A, Pari Nizhny Novgorod will host Krasnodar (starting at 18:00 Moscow time), in group B, Fakel in Voronezh will play with Spartak Moscow (18:00), in quartet C, Orenburg will meet Grozny “Akhmat” at home (15:30), and in group D there will be the derby of the capital – CSKA will host “Torpedo” (20:30).
After three rounds, only two teams have a 100% scoring record. Spartak in Group C beat Krylya Sovetov (1: 0), Fakel (3: 0) and Zenit (3: 0). From second to fourth place are occupied by clubs from Samara (6 points), St. Petersburg (3) and Voronezh (0). CSKA were stronger than Torpedo (2: 0), Ural (2: 1) and Sochi (2: 1) in the group stage of the Russian Cup. The opponents of the army team in the group are as follows: the team from Yekaterinburg is on the second line (6), the workers of the car factory are on the third (3), and the residents of Sochi are on the fourth (0).
Occupying the 14th place in the ranking of the World – Russian Premier League (RPL), “Torch” approaches the match with the second “Spartak” in optimal composition. The red and white of Voronezh will have to do without three injured midfielders: Nail Umyarov, Victor Moses and Christopher Martins. CSKA, who are third in the Russian league on Wednesday, will not be able to count on defenders Bruno Fuchs and Igor Diveev recovering from injuries, as well as midfielder Konstantin Kuchaev. “Torpedo” will play in the next derby without two injuries: reserve goalkeeper Vitaly Botnar and defender Ilya Kutepov.
In Groups A and C, the ranking before Wednesday’s matches remains more confused. In the first quartet, the teams are ranked as follows: Lokomotiv (8 points; 4 games), Krasnodar (7 points; 3 games), Pari Nizhny Novgorod (5 points; 3 games) and Khimki (1 point; 3 games). 4 games). In Group C, Dynamo leads (7 points; 4 games), Akhmat (6 points; 3 games), Rostov (6 points; 4 games) and Orenburg (2 points; 4 games) take second and fourth place. ).
The fourth round of the group stage of the Russian Cup will end with two matches on Thursday. In group B, Zenit from St. Petersburg will host Wings of the Soviets. In Group D, Sochi will face the Urals at home.
The updated Russian Cup consists of two phases: the first takes place from August to December 2022 and is divided into the “RPL path” and the “regions path”. The second phase (playoff) will begin in February 2023. For the first time in the Russian Cup, the Double Elimination system will be applied (“double elimination”, elimination from the tournament after two defeats).
In the RPL path, 16 league teams are divided into four groups of four teams, the clubs will play six rounds in an Italian group system. Match points are awarded as follows: three points for a regular time win, two points for a full time draw and a penalty shootout win, one point for a full time draw and a penalty shootout defeat, and points for a loss at regular time are not charged. The teams that take first and second place will advance to the RPL playoffs, the third-placed teams will go to the region path playoffs, and the worst quartet teams will finish their performance in the tournament. The RPL playoffs will start with the quarter-finals, in this phase the teams that finished first in the groups will play with the runners-up. At each stage of the playoffs of the higher group, the losing team will be relegated to the corresponding phase of the lower group.
In the playoffs of the regions path, each phase will be played in two phases: in the first phase of the quarter-finals, the winners of the sixth round of the “path of the regions” will play with the third teams of the stage group of the “path of the RPL”. In the second round of the quarter-finals, the winners of the first round of this phase will meet the losing teams in the ¼-finals of the RPL playoffs. The same system will be applied in the subsequent phases. In the final match of the Russian Cup, the winners of the RPL playoffs and the playoffs of the street of the regions will be played.
The final of the current draw is scheduled for 11 June 2023.
