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Rubin and Amkar halfway to paradise

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The midway point in the Russian Premier-Liga finds two wild-card contenders topping the table with FC Rubin Kazan and FC Amkar Perm angling for first titles.

Rubin's Gökdeniz Karadeniz and Sergei Semak
Rubin's Gökdeniz Karadeniz and Sergei Semak ©Getty Images

Close contest
Just nine points separate the top ten sides in the 16-team Russian league with most teams now having passed the 15-game halfway mark, and Rubin remain at the top of the tree, where they have been since the third round of matches. Russia captain Sergei Semak and Turkey's Gökdeniz Karadeniz – both pre-season signings – have helped give Rubin wings, though a run of draws has eaten away their lead.

Unheralded Amkar
They are now just two points clear of Amkar, who continue to reap the rewards for their discipline and teamwork. Unheralded Montenegrin coach Miodrag Božović has worked wonders with the team from the banks of the Kama and said: "It's too early to dream about glory, but it's all in our hands. We have to continue in this direction as the most interesting part of the season has begun."

Dinamo dynamism
FC Dinamo Moskva are level on points with Amkar, and the young, dynamic side, led by Portuguese playmaker Danny and Russia stars Igor Semshov and Denis Kolodin are capturing the public imagination. "The secret of our success is our coach, Andrei Kobelev," said defender Kolodin. "He is really top class. We have good group and some of the players have been together for three years now."

Spartak unrest
Inconsistency has been the watchword with Russia's traditional footballing powers in the first half of the season. FC Spartak Moskva are fourth, still smarting from a 5-1 humbling at the hands of arch-rivals PFC CSKA Moskva which saw coach Stanislav Cherchesov outrage supporters by putting iconic midfielders Yegor Titov and Maxym Kalynychenko on the transfer list, with the latter moving on to FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

Lokomotiv unpredictable
FC Lokomotiv Moskva are fifth after a worst-ever seventh-placed finish in 2007, but prone to form swings. Despite a great squad and the league's top scorers in seven-goal duo Peter Odemwingie and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Rashid Rakhimov's Railway Boys vacillate between superb and dire, and have let two-goal leads slip three times this season.

Zenit hangover
Champions FC Zenit St. Petersburg are seventh, with the backlog of fixtures created by their UEFA Cup success cramping their style along with uncertainty over Andrei Arshavin's future. Having not scored in four games, CSKA are eighth and shedding players alarmingly, Jô, Daniel Carvalho and Dudu all on the way out and coach Valeri Gazzaev planning to quit at the end of the season.

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