Severstal - Ak Bars. Forecast and bets on the KHL match

Current form

Severstal had a strong October and significantly improved its position in the West. After a series of victories, Andrei Kozyrev team lost shape and lost four games in a row. Today, the club from Cherepovets is in sixth place in the conference and can get closer to the top five in case of a victory. The Steelworkers have scored 32 points in 27 starts and are unlikely to fail to make it to the playoffs with such results at the end of two and a half months of the regular season. The Black and Yellows did not have a good last away game, although they started it with a victory in Mytishchi (4:3). After that, Adam Liszka team lost in Minsk (1:3), Balashikha (0:2) and could not cope with the onslaught of Spartak in the capital (1:4). Returning home, Andrei Kozyrev team was routed by Vityaz (1:7), but snatched a victory from Admiral (2:1). Throughout the entire match with the sailors, the hosts were very active in front, but scored only two goals.

The Cherepovets team has significantly worsened its offensive performance. In the five previous games, they have only made five accurate shots and have never scored more than twice in a match. Kirill Pilipenko remains the best forward of Seva and has 24 points (12+12). The forward is in eighth place on the list of the most productive hockey players in the KHL.

The team from the Vologda region has conceded 17 goals in the last five games and has generally been terrible on its own half of the ice. Goalies Konstantin Shostak and Aleksandr Samoilov have dropped their save percentage to 90.5% per game.

Disqualifications and injuries

Aleksandr Skorenov and Aleksey Kruchinin were injured and will not play against Ak Bars this Saturday.

Interesting trends for betting

• Severstal takes 32 shots on goal per game

The Black and Yellows put enormous pressure on their opponents' goalkeepers in every game.

• The Steelers are winning just 45.5 percent of their faceoffs.

So far, the team centers have not been so successful at the point and have lost more often.

Current form

Ak Bars rarely loses points after the October break in its calendar, but is currently only in fourth place in the conference table. The team from the Republic of Tatarstan is only two points behind second place in the East and has one game in hand. Anvar Gatiyatullin charges have 35 points in their bank after 26 games. The Kazan team is heading to the Vologda Region after a series of meetings at the Tatneft Arena. There, Dmitry Yashkin team won against Kunlun (5:0) and SKA (3:2, OT), but could not cope with the defense of the army men from the capital (0:3). In the final match, the "cats" dealt with their archrival from Nizhnekamsk (2:0) without scoring.

Timur Bilyalov was unable to finish the match against Neftekhimik, so he was replaced by Amir Miftakhov. He is the best goalkeeper in the league in terms of save percentage. On average, the young Ak Bars goalkeeper only lets in 1.23 goals per 60 minutes, and in 12 starts he left the ice three times with a shutout.

Kirill Semenov continues to hold the status of the "Bars" top scorer. The forward made 23 effective actions (9+14) and assists his partners better than others. Artem Galimov (10+11) and Alexander Barabanov (8+13) are not too far from the attack leader, but so far they are not even among the 20 best attacking hockey players in the KHL.

Disqualifications and injuries

Egor Babenko will not play in the upcoming match in Cherepovets.

Interesting trends for betting

• Ak Bars shoots 35 times per game on average

Kazan shoots a lot, but converts 8.3% of their chances.

• The visitors only make 18 power moves per game.

The Bars try to avoid physical struggles and prefer technical hockey, but this does not always work out.