Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk vs Dinamo Prediction 30 January 2025

🔊 Will the "oilmen" fall into the hot hands of the Belarusian team? The next stop for Minsk Dinamo in their away series will be Nizhnekamsk. The confrontation with the local Neftekhimik holds many intrigues. The "Bisons" urgently need to score points as Nizhny Novgorod's Torpedo is breathing down their necks. Preliminary predictions indicate that the away side is the favorite: victory for the "wolf pack" - 3.45, victory for the "Dinamo" - 2.

📊 H2H

In October of last year, the teams faced each other at the "Minsk-Arena". The "Bisons" took control of the space and, consequently, the initiative from the first minutes. The result of a rather one-sided hockey game was a major victory for Dinamo with a score of 4:1. It is also worth noting that during the last 5 head-to-head matches at the "Neftekhimik" arena, the Minsk team has always managed to add points to their tally.

🔵 NEFTEKHIMIK

Oleg Leontyev regularly faces criticism for overly defensive and dull hockey. These claims are not unfounded, as it is quite common to see the "oilmen" forming a 1-3-1 scheme. In a recent match against Severstal (1:2), the "wolf pack" tried to outplay their opponent with tough and aggressive play. Neftekhimik managed to make 23 hits. In comparison, the "steelworkers" resorted to "hits" only 4 times. Currently, the Nizhnekamsk club is in 9th place in the "East", trailing the top-8 by 7 points.

⚪ DINAMO MINSK

The "Bisons" looked quite respectable in a recent match against Metallurg (1:4). Firstly, the Belarusian club outshot "Magnitka" in terms of shots on goal - 37 to 34. Secondly, one cannot overlook the confident actions of the "Dinamo" players in face-off circles - 58% success. However, for the past confrontation, the following expression is more than relevant: "if you don't score, they will score on you". Now, the "Dinamo" team is 5 points behind the 6th place in the "East", leading the "automakers" by only 2 points.

📌 EXPECTED LINEUPS

Neftekhimik: Dolganov - Pastukhov, Serikov - Belozerov, Di, Barber

Dinamo Minsk: Demchenko - Welle, Gross - Volkov, Tierney, Anas

🥅 GOALKEEPERS

Last Tuesday, Philipp Dolganov once again performed excellently in his primary task, making 33 saves. The 26-year-old goalkeeper continues to be one of the key and most stable players for the Nizhnekamsk club. Let's refer to the average statistics (92.10% save percentage, GAA - 2.64).

Vasily Demchenko once again played below his capabilities, managing to save only 88.20% of shots in the last confrontation with "Magnitka". However, denying the high class of the 30-year-old Russian would be foolish. As evidence of this is his performance statistics in the "Bisons" jersey (93.60% save percentage, GAA - 1.61, 3 shutouts).

📝 MATCH PREDICTION

The Minsk team lost their last three matches. This situation cannot satisfy the "Bisons" and their fans. The trip to Nizhnekamsk is a great opportunity to rehabilitate and strengthen their tournament position. The statistics of personal meetings favor "Dinamo", as well as their obviously more refined hockey. Our key bet is the ultimate success of Minsk Dinamo.