Vityaz vs SKA. St. Petersburg club visiting the championship outsider

On Wednesday, January 10, three matches are scheduled in the KHL regular championship game schedule. One of them will be held in Balashikha, where the local Vityaz will receive guests from St. Petersburg - the SKA hockey club.

• Expert Predictions Analysis
• Statistics
• Odds
• Game Totals Prediction

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Vityaz vs SKA

Vityaz

The Moscow Region club surprised everyone during the summer off-season when it did not renew the contract with Vyacheslav Butsaev, with whom Vityaz finally made it to the playoffs and even won their first victory there. The figure of the new head coach looked even more surprising. 53-year-old Alexander Zavyalov had no experience of independent work, usually content with the role of an assistant. In 13 matches under the leadership of Zavyalov, Vityaz scored only five points, immediately falling to the bottom of the standings. The resignation of the coach was a matter of time, so already in October the team was headed by Dmitry Ryabykin, who failed at Avangard a year ago.

The change of coach gave the hockey players a certain emotional outburst and Vityaz slowly began to climb out of the bottom of the standings. However, in December, the Moscow region team again fell into a functional hole, losing six matches in a row. The beginning of 2024 as performed by Vityaz also leaves much to be desired. In the three matches played, the team suffered three defeats (from SKA 1-6, Severstal 3-4 and Neftekhimik 2-4), reducing its chances of getting into the playoffs to a minimum. Now Vityaz is ninth in the West with 36 points, but the team is separated from the coveted eighth place by 9 points, which, taking into account the team’s current playing form, looks like a real abyss.

SKA

The St. Petersburg club also did not have the best start in the championship, at some point even falling out of the eight cup teams in the Western Conference. However, already in November, the army team began a progressive movement up the standings, currently having excellent chances to finish the regular season in first place. Now SKA is in fourth place in the West, but the gap from the leading Lokomotiv is only four points, so in the near future everything could change dramatically.

The St. Petersburg team slowed down somewhat in the first January matches, unexpectedly losing twice at home. Both lost matches ended with the same score 1-2, but if in the case of Yaroslavl Lokomotiv everything ended in regular time, then the St. Petersburg team lost to Magnitogorsk Metallurg in overtime, ending the regular time of the match with a draw result of 1-1.

Statistics

In the last four matches between these rivals, held at Vityaz’s home arena, the game went into overtime three times, ending in a draw after the main 60 minutes. Overtime – Yes 4.4. This season, the rivals have already met in Balashikha; that match did not reveal a winner in regular time, ending in a 2-2 draw. Overtime ended without any goals scored, and the post-match shootout brought victory to the St. Petersburg team. In total, the opponents held 44 head-to-head meetings at the KHL level, with a noticeable advantage in terms of victories on the side of the St. Petersburg club. The army team was stronger in 39 matches, leaving Vityaz with only 5 victories. Noteworthy is the large number of draws; 11 matches, that is, every fourth meeting of these rivals, ended outside regular time.

Odds from download 1xbet

The bookmaker has virtually no doubt about the victory of the guests, setting odds of 1.57 for SKA to win in regular time. The chances of a victory for Vityaz hockey players are estimated at 4.6, and a similar odds for a draw at the end of regulation time are 4.8. Judging by the quotes from 1xbet, there is a high probability of seeing a lot of goals scored in the upcoming match: total over (4.5) – 1.56, total under (4.5) – 2.33. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

The level of the opponents is currently not comparable. If Vityaz in the near future risks losing even its theoretical chances of getting into the playoffs, then the SKA hockey players have practically overtaken the conference leaders and are now actually laying claim to the final first place in the regular season. The failures of the St. Petersburg team in the last two matches should not be misleading, both in the game against Lokomotiv and in the match with Metallurg the army team had a noticeable advantage, which they were unable to convert into scored goals. Now the opponents are Vityaz, whose defense is far from ideal, so the St. Petersburg team has every chance to rehabilitate itself for its recent failures. Our forecast is SKA Individual Total over 3.5 with odds of 2.22.