SKA vs Metallurg. What will the leader of the Eastern Conference show on the St. Petersburg ice?

The central match of Sunday's game day in the KHL will take place in St. Petersburg. On January 7, the Ice Palace will be the venue for a meeting between the local SKA and the best team in the Eastern Conference – Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on SKA vs Metallurg

SKA

The current championship for the St. Petersburg team can be divided into two parts. For the first two months, SKA was absolutely unimpressive with its play, experiencing serious problems both in attack and defense. But even then it was clear that the army’s problems were temporary. This is what happened in the end: the injured hockey players returned to duty, the star newcomers adapted to the requirements of the coaching staff, and the army team began a progressive movement up the standings.

In November, the army team went on a winning streak of 11 matches in a row, breaking it in Yekaterinburg in the post-match shootout. After the failure in the Urals, the St. Petersburg team played 8 fights, scoring seven victories and one defeat. The SKA hockey players also celebrated the beginning of 2024 with a big victory, with a score of 6-1, beating Vityaz near Moscow at home. Now the St. Petersburg team is already third in the West, with 63 points scored, only three points behind the leading Spartak. At the same time, if we take the time period of the last 20 games, then the St. Petersburg team is clearly the best in the League, taking 37 points out of 40 possible.

Metallurg

The Ural club runs the long distance of the regular season more consistently, avoiding failed series. The only unsuccessful period in the championship came at the end of October, when Metallurg lost five matches in a row. And here it is worth noting the work of Andrei Razin, who managed to rid Metallurg of the notorious academicism that haunted the team throughout the last season. Now Metallurg is third in scoring in the League, second only to Spartak and SKA in terms of the number of goals scored, and the lag behind the St. Petersburg team is only one goal. The team does not have one clear leader; at the moment, already 9 hockey players have more than 20 points for performance. The most productive member of Metallurg at the moment is 20-year-old Daniil Yurov, with 32 points, only 25 in the summary table of the championship's top scorers.

In 2024, Metallurg managed to play one match, successfully flying to Sochi for a rendezvous with the club of the same name. The game against the championship outsider was not easy, after the first period Metallurg was losing 0-2, but through the efforts of Yurov and Eremenko they managed to send the game into overtime, where the experienced Denis Zernov managed to put the winning point. The away victory, coupled with the defeat of Avangard, allowed Metallurg to strengthen its leadership in the East. Now Magnitka, with 65 points scored, is four points ahead of its closest pursuer.

SKA vs Metallurg

Statistics

Since the 2016/17 season, over the course of eight matches, Metallurg in St. Petersburg has not lost by more than one goal. Metallurg wins with a handicap (+1.5) 1.72. Last season, the game in St. Petersburg ended with a score of 4-3, which once again speaks of the principled nature of this rivalry. In the current championship, the rivals played one head-to-head match, playing on December 3 in Magnitogorsk. The main time of the match ended with the score 2-2, and in the shootout, luck was on the side of the guests.

Odds from download 1xbet

The crazy form of the St. Petersburg club did not escape the attention of the bookmakers, so the odds of 1.88 for SKA to win in regular time look quite justified. Metallurg's chances of success are much lower; the odds for the guests to win are 3.5. The last match between these teams went beyond regular time; you can bet on a repetition of such a scenario with odds of 4.1. Also, judging by the quotes from 1xbet, the bookmaker has virtually no doubt about the effective outcome of the match: total over (4.5) – 1.68, total under (4.5) – 2.44. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

The army team is now on the rise, and this is especially evident in home matches. After the December break in the championship, SKA played 4 home matches, winning each of them. The total superiority of the St. Petersburg team is evidenced by the goal difference in these games - 23 to 5, then SKA not only won, but smashed its opponents. Metallurg, on the contrary, with great difficulty snatched victory in Sochi, from one of the outsiders of the championship. Our prediction is a victory for SKA in regular time with odds of 1.88.

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