Anderlecht vs Zenit St.Petersburg preview - Hulk blow for Zenit

Posted Tuesday, November 06, 2012 by PA

Zenit St Petersburg have been handed a blow as they seek to do the double over Anderlecht in the Champions League after confirming star striker Hulk will miss out.

The 60million euros record signing suffered a hamstring injury in the first half of Zenit's 2-1 Premier League win over Rostov on Friday, and the club confirmed on their official website he will subsequently be out of action for two weeks.

Hulk has been a revelation since his big money move from Porto over the summer and has been their leading scorer this season.

The 26-year-old Brazilian's absence will be keenly felt as Zenit once again attempt to beat Anderlecht, who were defeated by Aleksandr Kerzhakov's late penalty when the sides met in Russia two weeks ago.

Head coach Luciano Spalletti will hope that win can kickstart Zenit's European campaign after they had suffered a heavy defeat at Malaga before being edged out by AC Milan at home in their previous matches.

Anderlecht, rock bottom of Group C with just one point from their opening three matches, will surely need all three points if they are to keep their slim hopes of progression alive.

History is against them, however, and they will be searching for a first win in eight years at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in this competition.

The Belgian champions have lost eight and drawn two of 10 group matches in the Champions League although the last time they welcomed Russian opposition they won, with Lokomotiv Moscow beaten 5-3 last December in the Europa League group stages.

Coach John van den Brom has taken comfort from their recent league form following heavy wins over AA Gent and KV Mechelen since their last European outing.

"This was a nice week and the next week can even become more beautiful. The big victories give us a lot of confidence," Van den Brom said in the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper.

"We are ready to hurt the Russian side on Tuesday."

A 5-0 win over Gent was backed up by a 4-1 success at Mechelen, with striker Tom De Sutter scoring five of those goals.

"I am happy that Tom scored five times," added Van den Brom.

"If this might create a problem (with Dieudonne Mbokani returning from suspension and a broken nose) then this is a luxury problem. They already proved they can play together."