CSKA
As for CSKA, there are many questions after the results of the last series. Yes, Severstal is quite a biting team, but they have been playing with them for 7 matches now and there was a match where CSKA lost the match 0:3 to the opponent without a fight. Now the “soldiers” are probably in a tense state, because the matches with Lokomotiv, frankly speaking, did not work out for them this season. The teams have already played 6 head-to-head meetings this season, and CSKA has only one full win in regular time and it was with great difficulty 3:2, and that in September. Yes, you can say that the play-offs are different and different match scenarios should be expected here. But the first round of cup matches showed that CSKA is in very doubtful form and now it will be very difficult for them to face an extremely inconvenient opponent. In fact, there are big questions as to whether CSKA is the favorite here at all…
Locomotive
The locomotive played the first phase of the play-offs in a rather expected style. There was not much entertainment, but the productivity was high. In the performance of Loko, you can often see dry matches in the playoffs. So the series against Vityaz turned out to be the same. Only 5 goals conceded in 5 games for Balashikh. The Yaroslavl team began to present an excellent defensive game on the eve of the playoffs, and also dried up the same CSKA in such a qualitative way, thereby achieving positive results for themselves. Well, in fact, it’s worth taking a closer look at the betting options in favor of Lokomotiv. Bookmakers place Jarosław here as a little outsider, but this is a very controversial decision.
Forecast
It is unlikely that this series will particularly please the audience with abandoned pads, and everything here can be settled quite gently from match to match. In fact, in the next match I will focus on the option: Handicap (+1) on Lokomotiv. If CSKA starts this series with a win. I fully admit that this victory will be achieved with great difficulty and with a score of 2-1.