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Ak Bars — Neftekhimik: forecast for the KHL match
On February 21, the second consecutive game between Ak Bars and Neftekhimik will take place on the ice of Tatneft Arena. Kazan unexpectedly lost in Nizhnekamsk in regular time and seriously worsened their position in the conference table, having suffered four defeats in a row. The Wolves are eight points away from the playoff zone and still have a theoretical chance of reaching the final stage of the tournament. Will they be able to beat one of the KHL leaders for the second time in a week? This is stated in the forecast for the meeting
Command Analysis
Ak Bars Kazan
Russian FederationCurrent form
Ak Bars dropped to fourth place in the East and is gradually losing its chances of winning the conference. The team has 72 points after 56 matches and is already eight points behind Traktor, with good luck it can compete for a place in the top three teams.. Barca didn't look their best at the beginning of the new calendar year, but then they scored ten wins in 12 games. After such a powerful stretch, Anvar Gatiyatullin's team suddenly crumbled and lost four meetings in a row without scoring a single point. After losing to Torpedo at home (1:5), Kazan were defeated in Ufa (0:3), Omsk (2:6) and Nizhnekamsk (2:3).
The hosts have slowed down in the implementation of moments during this period of the season and have scored few goals in recent games. In the previous four matches, they scored five accurate shots, although previously the "bars" mostly won thanks to strong attacking actions. Artem Galimov (29+22) dropped to sixth place in the list of the league's top scorers, earning only one point in four starts. Slightly lower are Alexander Barabanov (19+28) and Dmitry Yashkin (29+18), who scored 47 goals.
Timur Bilyalov has been on the court a little more often so far and has played in six out of eight matches. He was very good in the second half of January, but Amir Miftakhov should never be written off. The former played 32 games on the ice and blocked 92.21% of shots. At the same time, Miftakhov has four shutouts this season, while Bilyalov has made only two crackers.
Disqualifications and injuries
Ilya Safonov, Egor Babenko and Mitch Miller will not be able to take part in the upcoming confrontation.
Interesting betting trends
- Ak Bars gets 7.14 minutes of penalty time per match
On average, Kazan players are eliminated about four times per game.
- According to statistics, Ak Bars makes 33 shots on target
Kazan are characterized by high throwing activity and try to threaten the opponent's goal from any position.
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Russian FederationCurrent form
Neftekhimik is still in the fight to get into the playoff zone from the East, but the chances of the guests are gradually fading. The team from the Republic of Tatarstan scored 50 points in 56 games and is in ninth place in the conference. Oleg Leontiev's team has won only five victories since the beginning of the new year and overall looked pretty bleak. In early February, the Wolves did not have the worst away series of games and beat Lada (4:3), losing to Salavat Yulaev (1:4) and Sochi (2:3, OT). After returning home, Evgeny Mityakin's squad sensationally beat SKA (4:3) and Ak Bars (3:2), leaving themselves motivated for the last matches of the season.
The club from the Republic of Tatarstan plays very poorly offensively and has scored only 14 accurate shots in the last five games. Andrey Belozerov scored points for four consecutive matches at the end of January, but in the previous three meetings he made only one assist. Nevertheless, he remains the top scorer of Neftekhimik. The forward has made 35 effective actions this season (15+20) and leads the list of the club's best offensive players by a fairly large margin.
Philip Dolganov appeared at the last line of defense in a duel against the "leopards" and reflected 94.60% of shots on his own goal. Igor Bobkov, who recently joined the team, has only been on the ice three times so far and failed three times. The veteran made a modest 86.08% of saves and missed ten times in less than 140 minutes of playing time.
Disqualifications and injuries
Roman Abrosimov and Alexander Dergachev will not play against Kazan.
Interesting betting trends
- Neftekhimik has 16.9% of the majority sales
The Wolves, on average, make every sixth attempt.
- "Neft" gets 6.95 minutes of penalty time
Usually, the hosts are eliminated at least three times per match.
Trends
Bet 1st period: total less than 1.5 pucks
In six of the eight matches involving Ak Bars, the first period was productive.
1.93Bet period 3: Ak Bars will score
Kazan scored in the third period in eight out of ten games.
1.35Tip and bets
Ak Bars lost its former form and very quickly dropped out of the top three in the East. The hosts have an incredible motivation for every match at the end of the season, because right now the allocation of places in the playoffs is underway. It's time for Anvar Gatiyatullin's wards to pull themselves together before they are bypassed by Metallurg and Avangard, which are not too far away. Neftekhimik unexpectedly beat Kazan at home, but before that they had not scored points in games against Dmitry Yashkin's squad for five consecutive matches. We think that Kazan will get two points. Let's play a bet on the victory of the hosts in regular time.
Forecast - Ak Bars win in 1.60
Betting on an individual total
Kazan scored only five times in the previous four matches, which is very little for such a strong team. The hosts have an average of 3.09 goals per game for the season, and they have to deal with the defense of Nizhnekamsk at home. Neftekhimik is one of the most skipping squads in the East and is unlikely to be able to contain the enraged Leopards.
We bet more than three goals on Ak Bars' individual total with a coefficient of 1.68
Bet on the total total
The teams have played three matches against each other this season, two of which turned out to be quite productive. Right now, it's not profitable for either side to sit on the defensive and play for deterrence. The owners will go ahead and force the wolves to open up. We think that in this confrontation, the stands will see at least five accurate shots for two.
We take a total of more than 4.5 goals for 1.55
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