Football Season Guide

Khasanbi Bidzhiyev was able to guide Dynamo Makhachkala to the Russian Premier League last term after finishing in second-place in the second tier. Without many summer signings, it looks set to be a huge challenge for the club to stay up. The main arrival has been the loan signing of Victorien Angban from Sochi. He brings quality and RPL experience, but there are not many other signings considered to be of top quality. There's a chance that defenders Valentin Paltsev, Nikita Kotin and Ilya Kirsh could break into the lineup, but they do not inspire much confidence to avoid relegation. On the plus side, the club hasn't seen any major departures thus far. Dynamo are set to continue with their same system and spine as last term, with Angban likely to become a regular in the middle of midfield. That will see them use a 5-3-2 system. Quality comes from forward Serder Serderov who scored nine goals in the second tier last term. It will likely be a big step up for him, however. Razhab Magomedov will like to build on his seven-goal tally last season, too, while captain Mutalip Alibekov will be the key man at the back.