Avangard Omsk vs Salavat Yulaev UFA Prediction 29 January 2025

🔊 Can the "Hawks" redeem themselves for their recent defeat in Ufa? The team of Canadian specialist Guy Boucher failed their away tour in Ufa and Yekaterinburg and will now try to gain as many points as possible on home ground. On January 29, the second match of the home series against one of the headliners of the Eastern Conference, Salavat Yulaev from Ufa, will take place at the "G-Drive Arena".

📊 HEAD-TO-HEAD

As noted earlier, the last game was in favor of the Ufa team. Viktor Kozlov's team defeated "Avangard" with a score of 4-0. Over the last 6 matches, the Omsk team has won only once with a tight score of 3-2, which gives reason to consider the Ufa team an inconvenient opponent for the "Hawks".

🔴 AVANGARD

The Omsk club became one of the most discussed teams in the winter transfer window. The team was joined by Kunlun leaders Nail Yakupov and Ryan Merkley, top-line forwards Konstantin Okulov, Ryan Spooner, and Michael McLeod. The transfers immediately had a positive impact on the team's results, and early January was marked by a bright series of six victories for Avangard. The team is in the playoff zone with 51 points and will try to secure its position in the final stretch of the regular season.

🟢 SALAVAT YULAEV

The team from Ufa traditionally is one of the leaders of the Eastern Conference and is in third place with 64 points, only 5 points behind the leader, Chelyabinsk Traktor. The Ufa team usually has no problems with teams from the lower part of the table, but sometimes struggles with more successful clubs. For instance, January matches against Ak Bars, Sibir, and Avtomobilist were lost with a crazy total score of 3-13. Key players to watch are Joshua Leivo, Sheldon Rempal, and Alexander Khmelevsky. The North American forward duo regularly scores points and occupies leading positions in scoring.

🔗 PROBABLE LINEUPS

Avangard: Serebryakov - Chistyakov, Sharipzyanov - Boucher, Spooner, Okulov

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

🥅 GOALKEEPERS

The number one for Omsk is Nikita Serebryakov, who transferred from SKA during the season. Serebryakov was outstanding in January, averaging less than three goals per game.

Salavat Yulaev's goalkeeper Alexander Samonov alternates starting positions with young goalie Semyon Vyazov throughout the season, making 25 or more saves per game. Recently, Samonov suffered a minor injury but quickly recovered and continues to be the first choice for the team.

📝 EDITOR'S PREDICTION

Lately, matches between Avangard and Salavat Yulaev have often been high-scoring. Avangard begins their home series after two away defeats and keeps in mind their recent fiasco in a head-to-head meeting with the Ufa team. We should not forget about their shaky position in the standings and Omsk's desire to get a more favorable opponent in the playoffs. Both teams have high-class players guarding the net, some of the KHL leaders, but the clubs' star forwards often score many points. Our key bet is on total over 4.5 goals.