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Sochi vs. SKA: KHL Match Prediction
On December 27, a meeting between the local "leopards" and the "army men" from St. Petersburg will take place in Sochi. This season, the teams have played two matches against each other and exchanged confident away victories. Roman Rotenberg charges continue to fall down the conference table, while the southerners are still at the bottom of the list of clubs in the West. Who will manage to take important points before the next break? We tell you in the forecast for the match
Command Analysis
HC Sochi
Russian FederationCurrent form
Sochi still occupies the last place in the West and is already five points behind Kunlun, so in the near future it will not be able to claim the tenth place, although it has a game in hand. Sergei Zubov team was in terrible form in late autumn and early winter. The southerners could not win eight matches in a row and earned only two points in a long away series of games. The Leopards lost twice after the break to Severstal in Cherepovets (2:4 and 1:2), and then failed to cope with Lokomotiv in Yaroslavl (1:3). On December 25, the Tigers finally got a victory and with great difficulty beat Lada in Tolyatti (4:3). At that time, the visitors had a two-goal advantage, but squandered it, scoring the winning goal in the last minute of regulation time.
Timur Khafizov team scores less than other teams in the conference. In the last five games, they have scored 11 accurate hits, while the hosts' attack leader is among the league 20 best forwards. Artem Tyanulin has earned 30 points (9+21) this season and is unlikely to remain on the team after such strong performances.
Sergei Ivanov returned to the last line of defense in the match against Lada, but once again he was unable to save his teammates. The goalie reflected only 89.30% of shots, so it is possible that we will see Evgeni Volokhin again.
Disqualifications and injuries
All the hosts' leaders will play against SKA on Friday.
Interesting trends for betting
- Sochi allows an average of 33 shots on goal
The Leopards are unable to cover most shots on goal
- Sochi has a 78.5% neutralization rate of the opponent power play
Sochi players have been playing well in uneven lineups this season and have neutralized many of their opponents' attempts
SKA St. Petersburg
Russian FederationCurrent form
Roman Rotenberg team recently claimed a place in the top three teams in the conference, but now it has already fallen to sixth place in the West. SKA has only scored 48 points in 38 starts and may well return to at least fourth place, but for this it needs to win. After the break, the "army men" immediately lost to Lokomotiv in St. Petersburg (2:3), but then won against Torpedo (6:4) and Admiral (3:2, OT). Having received a little time to rest, the "red-blues" lost in the first match of the away series. Alexander Nikishin squad could not cope with the onslaught of CSKA (5:6), conceding five times already in the first period of the confrontation.
SKA consistently plays well in attack, as the guests have many skilled forwards. In the last five games, the St. Petersburg team scored 16 times and they are still the best team in the West in terms of goals scored. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored 33 points (10+23), but "Kuzya" was injured in the game against the Muscovites and is unlikely to recover in time.
The club from Saint Petersburg has big problems in defense and often makes mistakes on its half of the court. SKA coaching staff constantly changes goalies, but currently Egor Zavragin and Pavel Moiseevich play for the "army men". Zavragin has blocked 91.81% of shots this season and made two shutouts.
Disqualifications and injuries
Artem Zemchenok is still in the hospital and will not come to Sochi.
Interesting trends for betting
- On average, SKA takes 35 shots on goal
The visitors try to play actively in the opponent zone and make shots from any position
- Petersburgers win 53.3% of faceoffs
The Red-Blues are doing well at the point and taking most of the faceoffs
Trends
Bet 1st period: total over 1.5 goals
In three out of four games involving SKA, the first period was productive
1.65Bet 3rd period: SKA will score
The Army Men have scored in the third period in their last three games
1.25Tip and bets
We think that Sochi will not be able to put up a fight against one of the conference leaders. Sergei Zubov team showed their best hockey in Tolyatti, taking advantage of the departure of the "Filiny" main goalie. SKA will definitely not spare their opponent now, because Roman Rotenberg charges are losing the fight for a place in the top three teams in the West. This season, the rivals have exchanged away victories. We believe that the "red-blues" will confidently beat the "leopards" even without Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was injured in Moscow.
Forecast - SKA win with Asian handicap (-1.5) on goals for 1.77
Bet on individual total
Sochi misses a lot and rarely leaves the court without at least three goals scored. Sergei Ivanov and Evgeni Volokhin are still too young and do not show a strong level of play on the last line of defense. SKA remains the strongest team in the conference in terms of attack, so we expect at least four accurate shots from the guests.
We bet on SKA individual total over 3.5 goals for 1.70
Total Bet
This season, the teams have played each other twice and both matches were extremely productive. The Leopards scored nine goals against the Army Men in two games, but they missed the same number themselves. We think that at least five goals will be scored in the third match between the teams. Let bet on the total over goals.
We take the total over 5.5 pucks for 1.70
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