Krasnodar will host WINLINE Game of the Week between Lokomotiv Kuban and Zenit on Sunday.
Place: Russia, Krasnodar, Basket Hall
Time: November 9, 2025, 14:00
Broadcasts: Match TV, VK video, VTB League website
Rivalry
The two representatives of the Top 4 finished the regular season with a 2-2 record, beating each other time and time again in road games. Things got even more interesting in the Playoffs, where the rivals faced in the Semifinals. The epic series stretched over 7 games—this rivalry will go down in history—and ended with Zenit win in the decisive game in St. Petersburg. The st. Petersburg team advanced, but Lokomotiv Kuban exhausted the opponent down so much that the St. Petersburg team simply did not have enough strength for the Finals against CSKA.
The teams have played 43 games in total, with Zenit slightly ahead – 23:21.
Situation
The beginning of the month, like the start of the season in general, was difficult for both clubs. Lokomotiv Kuban lost by 40 points to CSKA in Moscow, while Zenit suffered a sensational loss to Enisey in Krasnoyarsk. In the WINLINE Basket Cup, Krasnodar team lost to Serbian club Mega in overtime in Belgrade, while the St. Petersburg team got defeated by UNICS at home by 19 points.
The teams are coming to the first face-to-face since the last season Playoffs with identical record – 5-3, sharing 4th to 6th place with BETCITY PARMA. So far, it’s a battle for home-court advantage in the first round, with CSKA and UNICS pulling away, but the reality is that the two top clubs can’t claim anything more than that right now. On Sunday, one of them is going to have another loss, which will further complicate the situation, while a win could mark the beginning of a way out of the crisis.
Family ties
During the offseason, 3 Russian players from Lokomotiv moved to St. Petersburg. Andrei Martuk and Vladislav Emchenko, as well as Dmitry Uzinskiy will play at Basket Hall for the first time since changing clubs. Aleksandr Shcherbenev, who is starting his second season with Zenit, also began his pro career in Krasnodar.
Zenit new head coach is well known to fans of the Krasnodar club—Aleksander Sekulic led Lokomotiv Kuban from 2022 to 2024. His departure was somewhat unexpected and caused confusion for the coach himself. The game with his former team will certainly be important to him.
Losses and addings
Both teams are experiencing difficulties with injuries at the start of the season (Loko’s main loss is Jeremiah Martin, who has not played for the team). The situation in Zenit is perhaps the most serious in the entire League: Nenad Dimitrijevic, Georgy Zhbanov, Levi Randolph and Andre Roberson have missed recent games, while Alex Poitress is out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury. Former NBA player Luka Samanic, who started this season in the EuroLeague for Baskonia, has already been signed to help out.
According to the Krasnodar team head coach Anton Yudin, Lokomotiv Kuban is monitoring the situation on the market and is also interested in strengthening its roster during the regular season.
Stats
Despite all the difficulties, Zenit is in the Top 3 in average scoring with 87.4 points.
The St. Petersburg team is in second place in three-point shooting (39.0%), while Loko is fourth from the bottom (33.3%).
Loko is last in free throw shooting (70.1%).
Both teams are among the leaders in rebounds and are approaching the face-off with identical stats – 37.5 per game.
Lokomotiv leads in steals – 9.4 per game.
