FC Zenit vowed that they were ready to interrupt the Muscovites' domination of the Russian Premier League ahead of the 2007 season. With the campaign just past its halfway stage, their rivals are discovering there was substance to their argument. One point clear at the top, with a trident of capital sides in hot pursuit, Zenit are on course to take the competition's prize away from Moscow for only the second time in its 15-year existence - and the first since 1995.

But with Dick Advocaat's charges putting smiles on faces in Saint Petersburg, their form has provoked CSKA Moscow into opening their chequebook as they look to manoeuvre their bid for a third successive crown away from the rocks. Eight points off the pace, the Army Men have added Polish revelation Dawid Janczyk to their ranks and will be hoping his presence, coupled with the returns of Brazilians Vagner Love and Jo from the Copa America and the FIFA U-20 World Cup respectively, will get their push for gold back on track.

In fact, it is CSKA's cross city rivals Spartak Moscow, Dynamo Moscow and FK Moscow who are presently providing Zenit with a greater cause for concern. Spartak, record nine-time champions but uncrowned since 2001, sit menacingly in the runners-up spot, with Dynamo and FK off the pace by five and six points respectively, the latter with a game in hand on those above them.

Outlay paying dividends
Big-money signings have not always vindicated their price tags in Russia, but if Zenit's celebrity cast of players have their arms raised in triumph in November, nobody will be left quibbling about exorbitant fees. Both Alejandro Dominguez and the cerebral Anatoliy Tymoschuk, who between them cost the club in excess of 20 million euros, have grown in influence as the term has progressed, while a change of surroundings has failed to rob Pavel Pogrebnyak of his profilic edge. The Russian international is not the only player whose goals are leading Zenit's assault on glory, with Andrey Arshavin's six-goal return complimenting his sublime playmaking.

Incidentally, Zenit have taken only one point from a possible nine against last season's top three - CSKA, Spartak and Lokomotiv - but they have won eight and drawn five elsewhere, which has been sufficient to inch them clear at the summit. Crucially, an arresting late comeback in Matchday 14 helped them edge out Spartak Nalchik 4-3 and prevent a fourth consecutive game without victory. Thereafter, they undid FK Moscow 2-1 before seeing off FK Rostov 2-0 on Sunday; results which have left them high on confidence ahead of their top-of-the-table clash with Spartak this coming weekend.

Spartak, meanwhile, will enter the game on a three-game winning streak of their own since Stanislav Cherchesov's arrival at the helm, and in Egor Titov, they possess a player whose probing through-balls and assured finishing is enough to unsettle the most resiliant of defences.

Having lost goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and the influential Daniel Carvalho to injury, as well as Vagner Love and Jo to international duty, CSKA Moscow slid down the standings following a 2-0 defeat of Zenit on 26 May. But with the latter pair now free from national team service, and Janczyk, who sparkled for Poland during their FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 run, set to replenish Valery Gazzaez's attacking options, supporters of the 2005 UEFA Cup winners are confident that they can arrest a sequence of five winless games and begin to slice at Zenit's eight-point advantage.

Surprise packages
FK Moscow may be short on years, but the newest addition to the city's footballing dynasty are certainly not lacking in ambition. Even so, the Citizens have exceeded expectations thus far this season. Having narrowly lost out to Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Cup final, highly-rated coach Leonid Slutski has guided his troops into fourth place in the league and with back-to-back home matches forthcoming, plus a game in hand on their rivals, FK are genuine title contenders.

The same can be said for Dynamo Moscow, whom Denis Kolodin, Dmitri Khokhlov and Danny have propelled into the top three. Without a league title since their conquest of the old Soviet Championship in 1976, Dynamo will be eager to take maximum points from their next two contests before Zenit pay them a visit in early-August.

With such small margins separating Zenit, Spartak, Dynamo and FK Moscow, and with CSKA's reinforcements adding weight to their challenge, an intriguing battle for honours ensues.