Novosibirsk Sibir have not won in regulation time at the Tatneft Arena since March 2014. Will Pavel Zubov's team be able to break their losing streak?
October 2. 19:30. Hockey. KHL. Regular season. "Ak Bars" - "Sibir". Stadium "Tatneft-Arena". Live broadcast on Match TV channel.
Many experts admire the start of Kazan Ak Bars in the KHL regular championship. However, if you look at the “Leopards” calendar, you can understand that there is nothing supernatural about leadership in the East. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov's team almost never played against the giants. The first truly serious test for Tatarstan hockey players was an away match against Metallurg MG.
In the match with Magnitka, the Kazan team looked very solid, which is confirmed by an almost two-fold advantage in shots on target. Success in the confrontation with the vice-champion became the fourth for Ak Bars in five last matches. Despite this, the club's management announced a new development strategy for the club. Rafik Yakubov was appointed to the position of general manager under her.
Taking this fact into account, Ak Bars will continue to strengthen its squad. It is quite possible that a new goalkeeper will be signed. Still, a club aspiring to the title cannot count on two students from a local school at the last step. Yes, and off-season transfers are completely justified so far. The Kazan players look much better when converting extra goals, and their average performance has increased to 3.33 goals.
“Sibir” solves much more mundane problems. Pavel Zubov's team is trying to break into the top eight in the East. The start of the season shows that it will not be easy for the Siberians to do this. Yes, Novosibirsk residents act selflessly, giving battle even to the giants. However, on one character to go through such long distance it won't work. Well, apparently, no one is going to look for reinforcements for the team.
The head-to-head statistics do not bode well for Sibir. In ten previous duels with the Leopards, the team from Novosibirsk won only two victories. In Kazan, the Siberians have not won in regular time for five meetings. The absence of two forwards due to injuries, Artyom Artyomov and Gleb Zyryanov, does not add to optimism. The status of the clear favorite for Ak Bars is quite fair.
Estimated team compositions:
"Ak Bars": Goalkeeper: Emil Garipov;
Defenders: Andrey Markov, Roman Abrosimov, Vasily Tokranov, Mikhail Sidorov, Albert Yarullin, Atte Ohtamaa, Rafael Batyrshin, Stepan Zakharchuk;
Forwards: Justin Azevedo, Dmitry Obukhov, Stanislav Galiev, Artem Lukoyanov, Fedor Malykhin, Andrey Popov, Anton Glinkin, Alexander Svitov, Vladimir Tkachev, Anton Lander, Maxim Lazarev, Jiri Sekach;
"Siberia": Goalkeeper: Alexander Salak;
Defenders: Artyom Vladimirov, Ivan Vereshchagin, Vladislav Naumov, Maxim Ignatovich, Fedor Belyakov, Adam Polashek, Konstantin Alekseev, Nikolay Demidov;
Forwards: Patrick Zakrisson, Vladimir Pervushin, Sergey Konkov, Andrey Sigarev, Igor Levitsky, Sergey Barbashev, Dmitry Lukin, Stepan Sannikov, Alexey Sopin, Ilya Shipov, Ignat Zemchenko, Jonas Enlund, Alexander Bergström, Vyacheslav Osnovnin;
Conclusion:
“Ak Bars” certainly surpasses “Siberia” in terms of the level of individual hockey players’ skills. However, the start of the season showed that the Leopards periodically spring surprises in confrontations with outsiders. That is why, instead of the outcome, it is better to turn to the total less than 4.5. In eight of the previous nine duels, the teams played at the bottom. As a forecast for the match Ak Bars - Siberia, we recommend TM 4.5 in regular time. Bookmaker Leon estimates this event with odds of 1.70.
Novosibirsk "Siberia" is the only club in the league that has not yet won a single victory. Will Alexander Andrievsky's team be able to score their first points in the tenth match of the season? We think not.
Team form
The Kazan club finally broke the series of matches where victory alternated with defeat. In a five-match away tour, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s team scored points in every game: defeat in shootouts from Omsk Avangard – 1:2, a strong-willed victory over Ufa’s Salavat Yulaev – 5:4, defeat in shootouts from Barys – 3:4 , after which Ak Bars won two victories in a row over Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo and Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik - 4:2 and 2:1, respectively. After not the best start to the season, when it was noticeable that the club from the capital of Tatarstan was in bad physical condition, things are starting to improve noticeably for the team. On at the moment The Kazan team is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Things are hopelessly bad for Sibir. Nine consecutive defeats at the start of the season already make the team’s chances of reaching the playoffs minimal. While the club's general manager Kirill Fastovsky is trying to explain why he was not pleased with his former head coach Vladimir Yurzinov and the players whom Siberia abandoned, the current players continue to suffer one defeat after another. Under the leadership of Alexander Andrievsky, three matches were played: home against Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo (2:3) and Omsk Avangard (1:3), as well as an away game against Ufa Salavat Yulaev (1:3). It is impossible to notice any changes in the quality and results of the team. Ahead of the club from Novosibirsk is a departure along the route “Kazan – St. Petersburg – Minsk – Podolsk”, where to earn the first points in standings it will be extremely difficult.
History of personal meetings
Within KHL teams spent 31 among themselves face-to-face meeting. In 20 matches the Kazan team was stronger, and in 11 games the victory went to the club from Novosibirsk. The goal difference is also on the side of the hosts of the upcoming meeting – 88:72. Last season, the rivals met twice: in Kazan, the Ak Bars players were stronger - 3:2, and in Novosibirsk, the Sibir players celebrated the victory - 4:1.
Betting options
“Sibir” and “Ak Bars” rank third and fourth among all teams in the league in terms of deletions earned in the championship. The Novosibirsk club received 125 penalty minutes in nine meetings (13:53 on average per game), and the Kazan team in the same nine matches had only seven penalty minutes less (13:06 on average per game). In addition, both head-to-head meetings last season between these teams were very rough: in the Novosibirsk game the clubs earned 42 penalty minutes, and in the Kazan match even more - 61 penalty minutes. Based on this, in the upcoming game it is reasonable to bet on the “top” on the penalty. BC "1xStavka" offers to bet on the fact that there will be more than 16.5 penalty minutes in the match with a coefficient of 1.85.
As for the winner of the match, the undisputed favorite is Ak Bars, which is gradually feeling its way, and the Novosibirsk club is in a severe crisis. If in home games “Siberia” still tries to resist, then in five away games the minimum difference in the score was only starting game season with Severstal. In all other games there were defeats with a difference of two goals or more. Based on this, good option is
On Monday, October 22 at 15:30 Moscow time, in Novosibirsk on ice arena“Sibir-Arena” Siberia will host Ak Bars in the next game of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Experts from BC 1xBet are betting on the victory of the guests from Kazan. The odds for Siberia's victory are 3.68. The odds for a draw are 4.40. Bookmakers are betting on Ak Bars to win - 1.80. The odds for the total of the match are interesting and high, in the match between the outsider and the leader of the Eastern Conference, the bookmaker offers the following quotes: TB5 - 2.17, and TM5 goals - 1.66.
Siberia is little by little getting out of the hole it fell into at the start of the season. At 6 latest games season, Novosibirsk scored points in 5 matches, although they were able to win only in three meetings. In the last round, Siberia did not notice Dynamo Minsk, winning a crushing victory 6:0. In that game, 11 Siberian hockey players scored points, among them you need to highlight Bodrov 1+1 and Taylor, who played to zero, repelling 32 shots. After 20 matches, Alexander Andrievsky’s team has 10 points, with a goal difference of 37-63 and 12th position in the Eastern table. Siberia's average offensive numbers are 1.9 goals and 3.1 shots missed per game in defense. In 8 games on their ice, the team from Novosibirsk scored 5 points, scoring 20 and conceding 21 goals. In the upcoming match, Pervushin and Zyryanov will not be able to help the ice owners due to damage.
Ak Bars won 4 victories in the last 5 meetings of the season. Bilyaletdinov's team turned out to be stronger than Severstal 2:0, Spartak 1:0, Sochi 5:1, and Salavat Yulaev 3:1. The Kazan team lost only to Jokerit 2:3. In the last round, Ak Bars defeated Salavat 3:1 in the Green Derby, best player Garipov became the leader in that match, repelling 28 shots on target. A powerful game in recent meetings allowed Ak Bars to rise to 3rd position in the Eastern table with 28 points and a goal difference of 54-44, after 20 matches played. On average, Kazan players score 2.7 goals and concede 2.2 shots into their own net. Away, Bilyaletdinov's team played 8 matches, scoring 12 points, scoring 20 and conceding 16 goals. Ak Bars' attack is led by foreign players, Swede Lander 6+10 and Czech Sekach 7+10. Bilyaletdinov is bringing 26 hockey players for a series of 4 away matches:
Goalkeepers: Emil Garipov, Artur Misbakhov, Vladislav Podyapolsky;
Defenders: Roman Abrosimov, Rafael Batyrshin, Nikita Lyamkin, Andrey Markov, Andrey Pedan, Paul Postma, Dmitry Yudin, Albert Yarullin;
Forwards: Justin Azevedo, Alexander Burmistrov, Stanislav Galiev, Mikhail Glukhov, Danis Zaripov, Vladislav Kara, Rob Klinkhammer, Anton Lander, Artyom Lukoyanov, Fedor Malykhin, Artyom Mikheev, Andrey Popov, Alexey Potapov, Jiri Sekach, Vladimir Tkachev.
Ak Bars won against Siberia this season on September 24 3:2 at home ice. In the upcoming match, the Kazan team, although they are playing away, have an excellent chance of success, now they look stronger, more teamed and balanced with the home team.
