Sochi vs Salavat Yulaev UFA Prediction

🔊 Will the "greens" manage to build on their recent success against Avangard? One of the matches in Thursday's KHL program will be the encounter between Sochi and Salavat Yulaev at the Bolshoy Sports Palace. The clubs are in completely different standings positions, so it's not surprising to see such one-sided predictions from bookmakers: victory for the "leopards" - 4.1, victory for the Ufa team - 1.73.

📊 H2H

In the last 8 head-to-head matches, Salavat Yulaev has consistently secured points. The previous outright victory for the "leopards" dates back to the 2020/21 season. Back then, Sochi celebrated success at the "Ufa-Arena" (3:2).

🟡 SOCHI

Sochi is not impressive at all and is justifiably outside the playoff zone. Their absolute inability to play as the first number in some matches is reflected in the team's inconsistent results. Currently, the "leopards" are 18 points away from the top-8 in the "West". Sochi also performs quite mediocrely when shorthanded - only 78.5% successful neutralizations (10th result in the conference). Perhaps the club's main star is Artur Tyanulin, who has already recorded 36 points to his name.

🟢 SALAVAT YULAEV

The "greens" managed to break Avangard's excellent series last Monday (4:0). This victory allowed the Ufa club to reach 3rd place in the "East". Salavat Yulaev is impeccable in the physical aspect. The ability of Viktor Kozlov's team to maintain pace throughout all 60 minutes allows them to achieve the necessary result. We note Joshua Leivo's fantastic form - 13 points in the last 5 matches. In the "greens'" infirmary, Gleb Kuzmin and Sergey Varlov remain.

📌 PROBABLE LINEUPS

Sochi: Volokhin - Ibragimov, Volkov - Khokhlachev, Yaremchuk, Bitten

Salavat Yulaev: Vyazovoy - Naumenkov, Vasilevsky - Rempal, Khmelevsky, Alalykin

🥅 GOALKEEPERS

Evgeny Volokhin continues to gain experience from his own mistakes. In this regular season, the 19-year-old goalkeeper has taken to the ice for the "leopards" 14 times. At this stage, his statistics indicate a lack of skill, which is due to the player's age (90.64% shots saved, GAA - 2.99).

Semyon Vyazovoy had a stellar performance against Omsk Avangard (4:0). The 21-year-old goalkeeper of the Ufa club made 26 saves, managing to keep his goal "locked". The average statistical indicators of the Russian goalkeeper are impressive (93.51% shots saved, GAA - 1.79, 4 shutouts).

📝 MATCH PREDICTION

According to head-to-head statistics, Sochi is quite a comfortable opponent for the "greens". It is also important to consider that the "leopards" are one of the worst teams in the league in most game components. Viktor Kozlov and company simply must defeat Sochi "on class". Our key bet is victory for Salavat Yulaev in regulation time.