Avtomobilist vs Ak Bars. Will the Urals take revenge for the recent defeat in Kazan?

Direct competitors in the Eastern Conference, Avtomobilist and Ak Bars, will hold a head-to-head match in Yekaterinburg on January 24.

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

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Avtomobilist vs Ak Bars

Avtomobilist

The Ural club covers the long distance of the regular season in its usual rhythm, steadily alternating victories and defeats. This is quite enough to feel comfortable about getting into the playoffs, but Avtomobilist still cannot aim for a leadership position in the Eastern Conference standings. At the moment, Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team is fourth in the East, four points behind third place. At the same time, only two points separate Avtomobilist from seventh place, so a couple of unsuccessful matches may well throw the Urals team down several steps.

That Avtomobilist is a swing team is once again proven by the results of recent matches. Already in January, the Urals quite confidently beat the capital's army team, but then at home they managed to lose 0-3 to Cherepovets Severstal. Also in January, Avtomobilist confidently defeated Tolyatti Lada 4-1 on the road, but three days later lost to the same opponent at home 3-4. Such game instability does not allow the Urals to claim more, being content with the role of a strong middle peasant.

Ak Bars

The December failure in the championship, when Bars managed to lose in five out of eight matches played, practically dashed all the Kazan club’s hopes of fighting for the championship in the Eastern Conference. The first half of January also passed with varying degrees of success, Barsy lost 1-3 in Chelyabinsk, and then lost away to HC Sochi, one of the weakest teams in the League at the moment, by the same score.

Certain positive changes occurred in the home series that Ak Bars played last week. First, the Kazan club confidently dealt with Tolyatti Lada on home ice, defeating the League newcomer with a score of 5-1. Then the capital's Spartak came to visit Bars, and the match against whom turned into a real thriller. The opponents took turns leading the score, but invariably lost the advantage. The 3-3 draw remained after overtime; to determine the winner, the teams had to take 13 shootouts; the winning shot for Ak Bars was made by Vadim Shipachev. Now the Kazan club is sixth in the East, only two points behind Avtomobilist, so if they win the upcoming game, the teams will change places in the standings.

Statistics

In the last five matches between these rivals, the Avtomobilist hockey players have won three victories, and all these victories were won with the same score of 2-1. The exact score is 2-1 for 13.0. This season, the opponents have already played three head-to-head matches and the hosts have invariably won each match. Two games in Kazan brought victory to Ak Bars - 3:2 and 2:1, to which Avtomobilist responded with its own victory in Yekaterinburg with a favorite score of 2-1. In total, the history of the confrontation between Avtomobilist and Ak Bars in the KHL totals 54 matches, the Urals were stronger in 19 games, and the Kazan club has 35 victories.

Odds from download 1xbet

Quite unexpectedly, the bookmaker believes that the hosts have a better chance of winning the upcoming match - Avtomobilist’s victory in regular time is offered with odds of 2.35, while the odds for Ak Bars to win are 2.75. We cannot exclude the possibility of a draw at the end of the match's regular time; such a development of events can be taken with odds of 3.65. As for the expected performance, the base total 4.5 is offered this time with the following quotes: total over (4.5) – 1.99, total under (4.5) – 1.76. Download 1xbet to your phone and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

Both teams have been quite unpredictable lately in terms of expected results, capable of both outstanding performance and outright failure. Based on this, we suggest paying attention to the performance of the teams. Despite the deep-rooted opinion that both Avtomobilist and Ak Bars are typically “grassroots” teams, in the team’s recent matches they refute this statement. Avtomobilist finished four of the last five matches with a total of more than 4.5 goals scored; Ak Bars’ attack scored 8 goals in the last two matches. Based on this, our prediction for the upcoming game is Total Over 4.5 with odds of 1.99.