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Ak Bars vs. CSKA: KHL Match Forecast
On November 17, the central meeting of the KHL game day will take place in the evening in Kazan. Ak Bars has gained great momentum, and CSKA was recently able to stop the championship leader Lokomotiv on its home ice. The teams have not met each other yet this season, but Kazan won twice in the previous draw. Almost a year and a half ago, the teams played in the Gagarin Cup final, and the Muscovites became the winners of the main trophy. What will the duel between the league giants be like this time? Look for the answer in our forecast for the confrontation in the Republic of Tatarstan
Command Analysis
Ak Bars Kazan
Russian FederationCurrent form
The Kazan team had a lot of rest in October, but now they are playing almost without a break. Ak Bars has seriously improved its position in the Eastern Conference table and has broken into third place. Anvar Gatiyatullin team has 33 points after 24 matches and in the very near future it can rise higher if it does not lose. Since October 25, the club from the Republic of Tatarstan has suffered only two defeats, both from Yaroslavl Lokomotiv (2:3, B and 1:2). In the current home series, the Greens crushed Kunlun (5:0), and then finally finished off SKA in a difficult match (3:2, OT). The hosts were leading by two goals by the 58th minute of the match, but were unable to maintain the advantage and finished off their opponents only at the very end of extra time.
Ak Bars' defensive play is worth noting. Dmitry Yashkin team plays well on their half of the ice and has not allowed more than two goals in regulation time since October 16. On average, the Greens have only saved the puck 2.04 times per game this season. Amir Miftakhov remains the team number one and only starts the most important games, although he was given the chance to play against Red Star. The goalie has blocked 95.33% of shots and is the best in the league in this regard. Timur Bilyalov took to the ice in the game against the Army Men from the banks of the Neva, and he failed at the end, but was still very good.
Kirill Semenov has become the leader in points scored (9+14) and has overtaken Alexander Barabanov (8+13). Both forwards are equally good at the tip of the attack and regularly make a significant contribution to the result. Not far from the leaders are Artem Galimov (9+11) and the leading sniper and captain Dmitry Yashkin (10+8).
Disqualifications and injuries
Egor Babenko was injured and will not be able to play against the Army Men.
Interesting trends for betting
- On average, Kazan players take at least 35 shots per match
Ak Bars tries to play actively in the opponent zone and shoots a lot at the goal, but only 8.6% of attempts become goals.
- Ak Bars has 12:15 in goals scored and conceded in the second period
Kazan usually has an ineffective second period, but recently they have started to let more goals into their own net.
CSKA Moscow
Russian FederationCurrent form
CSKA has finally emerged from the crisis that the team was in throughout October. Ilya Vorobyov team is currently in fifth place in the West and has 31 points after 24 starts. The Army Men are in excellent shape and have lost only one of their previous five matches. The Red-Blues lost the derby to Spartak (1:2) at the start of the home series, but then confidently won against Lada (4:1) and interrupted Lokomotiv winning streak (2:0). The Yaroslavl team had not lost in 11 games, but Nikita Nesterov team showed character and did not concede a goal from the best KHL club at the moment. Denis Guryanov made two assists and made a significant contribution to the Muscovites' success.
Ivan Prosvetov made his second shutout this season in a match against the Volga team. The former NHL player has staked out the place of the capital team number one and has a 92.33% save percentage. The goalie had an unsuccessful start in a new league, but has already received a rating of over seven points in six matches. Dmitry Gamzin has faded into the background and is polishing the bench for now.
Vitaly Abramov remains the most productive player in the CSKA team. The forward has only scored one point in the last five games, but in total he has 20 points (10+10). Maxim Sorkin has come close to the team leader and has 19 points (9+10). The rest of the visiting players do not look so good in terms of participation in goals scored.
Disqualifications and injuries
Egor Afanasyev will not come to Kazan this Sunday.
Interesting trends for betting
- According to statistics, the “army men” receive 7.79 minutes of penalty time per match
The Red-Blues do not always play with sufficient discipline and often break the rules.
- CSKA wins 51.9% of faceoffs
The visitors play better at the point than many other teams and regularly win the puck from their opponents.
Trends
Bet 1st period: total under 1.5 goals
In four of the previous five matches involving Kazan, the first was not productive
1.75Bet 2nd period: Ak Bars will score
Ak Bars has scored against CSKA in the second period for five games in a row
1.52Tip and bets
Ak Bars continues to consistently score points and has lost only two games to Lokomotiv since the October break. CSKA has picked up good momentum and is playing well both in defense and in defense. However, the last games between the teams have been won by the Kazan team, if we do not take into account the clubs' meetings in the final series of the season before last. The Muscovites have a very hard time playing against the league giants and often have to play second fiddle. We believe that with the support of their home crowd, the Greens will score two points. We are betting on the hosts' victory in the match.
Prediction - Ak Bars wins the match for 1.80
Individual total bet
Ak Bars rarely fails in defense and on average during the season concedes only 2.04 goals per game. CSKA does not score a lot and often has big problems in terms of converting moments. We do not think that Amir Miftakhov or Timur Bilyalov will show a weak game in the last line and allow three or more goals into their own net.
We bet on CSKA individual total under 2.5 goals for 1.75
Bet on total
The team from the Republic of Tatarstan is very strong in defense and after the October break has not allowed more than two goals per game. CSKA now simply does not have the resources to run into attack. Nikita Nesterov team will focus on defense against the backdrop of a decline in the attack leaders. We expect no more than five accurate hits from the opponents between the two of them.
We take the total under 5.5 goals for 1.70
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