Locomotive vs Ak Bars. Will the black streak of railroad workers be interrupted in this match?

Next Thursday, January 13, in Yaroslavl, the local Lokomotiv will host an opponent from Kazan - the hockey club Ak Bars. The meeting will take place on the Arena-2000 Lokomotiv ice.

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Locomotive vs Ak Bars

Locomotive

Railway workers continue their bleak performance in the current championship, risking, under certain scenarios, even finishing outside the cup eight. The change of head coach, and already at the end of September Andrey Skabelka was replaced by Igor Nikitin, gave the team the expected impetus, which, unfortunately, turned out to be short-lived. As a result, by December, Lokomotiv again plunged into its already familiar sleepy state, gradually moving further and further away from the group of leaders. The problem of the attacking line is still acute, despite the excellent selection of hockey players, each abandoned puck is given to the railroad with great difficulty. 113 goals scored in 47 matches played, only two outsiders are worse in terms of performance in the West - HC Sochi and Dynamo Riga.

To some extent, Lokomotiv was saved by a fairly reliable game on the defensive, but in recent matches the crisis covered this line as well. Four defeats in a row, with the capital's Spartak and Dynamo Lokomotiv losing at home, significantly worsened the standings of the railroad. Now the wards of Igor Nikitin have 55 points, which corresponds to the seventh place in the standings of the Western Conference. Dynamo Minsk breathes in the back, lagging behind Yaroslavl by only one point. Lokomotiv plays the next matches at home, which can help the team resolve the issue of getting into the playoffs.

Ak Bars

If Lokomotiv has the whole struggle for getting into the cup eight is still ahead, then Ak Bars needs only one point in the remaining nine matches to officially guarantee a place in the playoffs. Now the Kazan club confidently takes the third place in the East, two points ahead of the closest pursuers from Ufa Salavat Yulaev. It is no longer possible to dream of a championship, the leading Chelyabinsk Tractor and Magnitogorsk Metallurg have already come off by nine and seven points, respectively, so the main task for the final segment of the championship for Bars is to retain third place, which will allow them to start in the playoffs at home.

As for the current form of the team, it is worth noting some progress. The unexpected defeat from the Admiral somewhat spoiled the statistics, but visits to the Far East for any KHL team are fraught with certain difficulties. However, in the last 10 matches, Ak Bars scored 15 points, which is the fourth result in the League in this calendar period.

Locomotive vs Ak Bars

Statistics

In the current season, this will be the first face-to-face rivalry between the teams, but in the last championship, both meetings were won by Lokomotiv, who won with the same score 4-3 both at home and away in Kazan. In total, during the existence of the KHL, Lokomotiv and Ak Bars met 30 times, distributing victories as follows - the railwaymen won 16 matches, Bars won 14 meetings.

ODDs from download 1xbet

Despite not the best results in recent matches, the bookmaker continues to believe in Lokomotiv, placing odds of 2.28 on the hosts' victory. For comparison, the possible success of Ak Bars is estimated at 2.8, a draw - 4. The base total for the Continental League of 4.5 goals this time is presented with the following quotes: Total over(4.5) - 1.8, Total under (4.5) - 1.98. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

Lokomotiv is rightly considered the most closed team in the League, where, with the arrival of Igor Nikitin as head coach, the main focus is on reliable defensive play. Now, when every point is worth its weight in gold for the railway workers, Lokomotiv obviously will not take risks. The performance of Ak Bars in away matches can hardly be called outstanding, so everything goes to the fact that there will not be many goals scored in the upcoming match. Our forecast is Total under (5) with a coefficient of 1.67.

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