KHL match forecast. Ak Bars - Tractor. KHL match forecast Traktor Ak Bars meeting history
On January 9, in the next KHL game day, Traktor will play against Ak Bars. Will the hosts be able to force a fight on the favorite? Will the meeting be productive? You will find out all this in the forecast.
Tractor
“Traktor” has recently begun to upset its fans; in the last seven meetings in the league, the “Bears” won only two times, and they also won against very weak opponents. The club is unable to play against more or less normal teams, but needs to gain points, because the competitors are not asleep and Traktor may soon leave the playoff zone if they continue to play so poorly. During this season, the club from Chelyabinsk has already played 45 games and scored 43 points. Now “Traktor” is in eighth position in the Eastern Conference, in the Kharlamov division it is in fifth place. The Bears scored 81 goals during the regular season and conceded 117. On January 6, Traktor played in their arena against Avtomobilist. The home team had seven more shots on target, but failed to score. “Auto” won that match without any problems with a score of 0-2.
AK Bars
“Ak Bars” is having a great season, at the very start the reigning champions did not look very confident, but now everything is fine, the Kazan team is steadily gaining points and has long secured access to the playoffs. During the current regular season, Ak Bars has already played 49 matches and scored 70 points. On this moment Last season's champions are in second place in the East, five points behind the leader. The Kazan team has already scored 132 goals and conceded 106. On January 7th, Ak Bars played away against Vityaz. The Podolsk team had already proven that they knew how to play against top teams; in that meeting they surprised again and beat the Kazan team with a score of 2-1 in regular time. “Ak Bars” made 37 shots on target in that match, converting only one chance, something you rarely see from a club from Kazan.
Statistics and personal meetings
Ak Bars and Traktor have already met twice this season; the Kazan team won the first match with a score of 0-3. And the second personal meeting took place on December 21, then the game took place in Kazan and the hosts again defeated the Bears, this time with a score of 5-3. It’s quite rare for teams to play effectively against each other, and mostly they don’t break through to 5.5 total.
My forecast
Even though “Traktor” today plays the role of the home team, bookmakers still consider the hosts to be underdogs, this is not surprising, the “Bears” have already played seven matches in a row against Kazan. “Ak Bars” are in excellent shape, the champions lost in the last match, today I think they will be motivated and take two points. I recommend betting on the guests to win, taking into account OT and shootouts. You can also play the following bet: “Ak Bars” will not lose and the total is 6.5 less, you should not expect great results from this match.
On Saturday, Kazan Ak Bars will host Chelyabinsk Traktor as part of the next KHL game day. Are we expecting a landslide victory for the guests?
AK Bars
In the last match, Ak Bars played away against Jokerit and, in a bitter struggle, managed to win with a score of 2:3, thanks to which they were able to break a 3-match losing streak. Let us remind you that recently the Kazan team lost to Vityaz (2:1), Traktor (1:0) and Dynamo Moscow (2:3), which is why they temporarily dropped to 4th place in the East table. However, the victory in Helsinki returned Zinetula Bilelyatdinov’s team to 3rd place, and the players themselves should again feel confident for the upcoming matches. Ak Bars will play their next match against Traktor, so the Kazan team will be motivated to take revenge on the offender, as well as please the home crowd with a victory for the first time in a long time.
Tractor
Traktor got off to a good start in 2019, winning 5 wins in 7 matches and settled in 8th place in the Eastern Conference with 51 points. However, the last two away matches against Avtomobilist and Metallurg ended in two dry defeats for Alexei Tertyshny’s team: 3:0 in Yekaterinburg and 2:0 in Magnitogorsk. However, two defeats in a row did not affect the tournament position of the Chelyabinsk team, however, the team needs to continue to demonstrate stable results to comfortably advance to the knockout round.
Statistics and personal meetings
- Ak Bars won their first victory in their last four matches.
- Traktor lost two away games in a row.
On December 21, Ak Bars will play its next home match of the KHL regular championship. Hockey players from Chelyabinsk Traktor, as well as Ak Bars representing the Eastern Conference, will come to Kazan. The meeting will begin at 19:00 Moscow time.
With this match, Bilyaletdinov’s team ends a series of home games and the next time Kazan fans will see their favorites only on December 30. Upcoming game against Traktor is a great opportunity to slightly improve your mood before the away series, which was spoiled in the match against Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The teams put on a real hockey thriller, but, unfortunately for Leopard fans, luck was on the side of the visiting hockey players. At the same time, the first two periods were dictated by the ice owners. In the starting segment of the match, Mikheev and Azevedo scored goals within a 13-second interval, and in the second period the teams exchanged goals (Zaripov - Vereshchagin). As a result, Ak Bars was unable to maintain its two-goal lead, allowing Metallurg to send the game into extra time, with Ellison scoring the decisive goal already in the 20th minute of the third period. The demoralized Ak Bars hockey players were never able to recover, eventually losing in a shootout.
This defeat did not particularly affect the Leopards’ tournament prospects; the club is still second in the East in terms of points scored, second in this indicator only to the leading Avtomobilist (-3 points).
Tractor
The Chelyabinsk club frankly failed the first part of the season, which was due to a radical restructuring of the playing schemes. German Titov, who took over Traktor at the end of July, tried to instill in the team an attacking style of play, but all good intentions ended in failure. Traktor fell out of the top eight at the start of the season, and with each game week, dreams of the playoffs became less and less realistic. In such a situation, Titov’s resignation seemed like a matter of time, which ultimately happened in mid-October.
Alexey Tertyshny, who played in the KHL as an active player a few seasons ago, managed to instill much-needed confidence in the team. Without much brilliance, with the help of extreme dedication, Traktor began to gradually gain points and now the Chelyabinsk team is already eighth in the Eastern Conference. Before the game in Kazan, Traktor played three away games with a 100% result, in each of which the victory was achieved with a minimal score (Sibir 2-1, Neftekhimik 1-0, Torpedo 3-2). Personnel problems will significantly complicate the team's life in the upcoming matches. Thus, 8 players who are part of the club’s core will miss the game against Ak Bars for various reasons. First of all, this affects the attacking potential of the team, since there are 7 forwards on this list.
Statistics
Ak Bars and Traktor have a rich history of head-to-head matches, currently totaling 46 meetings. The advantage on the side of Ak Bars is quite expected - 28 victories, against 18 victories of the Chelyabinsk team. The teams have already met once this season; the November game in Chelyabinsk ended in a dry victory for the Leopards 3-0.
Betting League Odds
In the eyes of bookmakers, Ak Bars is the clear favorite for the upcoming match; the odds for the home team's victory are 1.45, while the possible success of the guests is estimated at 5.75. The quote for a draw outcome of the match is 4.85. Bookmakers don’t really believe in the high performance of the match, estimating the TM (4.5) at 1.80, while the TB (4.5) comes with a value of 2.05.
"Ak Bars" will continue the away series in Chelyabinsk - on January 9, the Kazan team will play away against the local "Traktor". The meeting will begin at 17:00 Moscow time.
RIVAL
Traktor continues to fight for a place in the playoffs in the East, and the Chelyabinsk team will have to withstand serious competition - in addition to them, Kunlun Red Star, Neftekhimik and Sibir are also vying for one ticket. Chelyabinsk has good chances in this fight: in 45 matches the team won 20 victories and scored 43 points. At five last matches team Alexey Tertyshny won only twice - Traktor beat Dynamo Minsk and Amur. In the previous meeting, the Chelyabinsk team on their own ice were unable to open Avtomobilist’s defense, losing to the conference leader with a score of 0:2.
ABOUT ME
"Ak Bars" unexpectedly stumbled in Podolsk - the away match against "Vityaz" ended in defeat for the Kazan team (1:2), scored the only goal in that game Stanislav Galiev. Moments to the current champion I was just unlucky: in the second and third periods, Ak Bars outscored the opponent twice in shots on target and five times the time spent attacking. Despite this, Kazan is still third in the East. Before the match break KHL Stars team Zinetuly Bilyaletdinov will play two more matches - against Traktor away and at home against Dynamo Moscow.
HISTORY OF MEETINGS
The confrontation between rivals in the KHL totals 47 head-to-head meetings: Ak Bars won 29 times, Traktor won 18 times. The goal difference is 130:95 in favor of Kazan. Almost a quarter of the Leopards' goals were organized by Danis Zaripov, he has 29 (17+12) points in matches against his native Chelyabinsk, this best result in a team. Top scorer"Traktora" in meetings with "Ak Bars" - Anton Glinkin, he has 10 (2+8) points.
This season, the teams played once in Chelyabinsk and Kazan, and both meetings were won by Ak Bars. In the Urals, Bilyaletdinov’s team achieved a confident victory with a score of 3:0 - they scored a goal Alexey Potapov, Anton Lander And Justin Azevedo, Goalkeeper Vladislav Podyapolsky kept a clean sheet. In Kazan, the Leopards won with a score of 5:3 - they scored goals against the Leopards in that game Danis Zaripov, Rafael Batyrshin, Jiri Sekac, Vladislav Kara And Artyom Lukoyanov.
STAR
Bronze medalist youth championship world 2019 Vitaly Kravtsov– the main star of “Traktor” right now. This season, the young forward is the team's second leading scorer, with 17 (6+11) points in 33 matches. The World Youth Championship in Canada turned out to be emotional for Kravtsov, so it is unknown whether the striker will be included in the lineup for the match with Ak Bars: it is quite possible that the coaches will give the hockey player a rest.
NOTE
Christian Thomas moved to Traktor during the season and showed himself well in two months - the forward played 20 matches, in which he scored 11 (6+5) points. In the match against Amur, Thomas' goal was the winning one for Traktor: the forward picked up the puck in the middle zone, beat the defender beautifully and threw it accurately.
LOSSES
As of January 8, 5 Traktor players are on the injured list - defenders Nikita Nikitin And Alexander Shinin, as well as forwards Anton Glinkin, Richard Gunge And Igor Polygalov. Ak Bars is still recovering from damage Fedor Malykhin, Dmitry Yudin And Anton Lander.
NUMBER
1000 penalty minutes for two in a head-to-head confrontation - this is the mark that teams can overcome in the upcoming match. Now Traktor has 518 penalty minutes, Ak Bars has accumulated 450 penalty minutes.
FACT
Stanislav Galiev scores points in three matches in a row - in the meeting with Avangard the forward made an assist, and in the games against Salavat Yulaev and Vityaz he scored a goal each.
Traktor has been unable to win seven matches in a row against Ak Bars - the Chelyabinsk team won their last victory at home in September 2017.
Traktor is one of the three most unscoring teams in the league: in 45 matches, the Chelyabinsk team scored only 81 goals (an average of 1.80 goals per game). Ak Bars ranks 9th in the league in terms of this indicator - the Kazan team has 132 goals in 49 matches (an average of 2.69 goals per game).
#IDAACBARS
The match "Traktor" - "Ak Bars" will take place on January 9 in Chelyabinsk and will begin at 17:00 Moscow time. The meeting will be shown live on the TNV, TNV-Planeta and KHL TV channels.
