Amur Khabarovsk - Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk predictions and free betting tips [25/12/2023]

The regular season of the Continental Hockey League (KHL) 2023/2024 commences. The opening game of the last week of the year is a clash for playoff spots in the East, to be more specific, a battle for the first contender for the playoff zone. Amur in Khabarovsk will be hosting Neftekhimik from Nizhnekamsk.

Amur Khabarovsk

Andrey Martemyanov, who for many years was considered the regular season's king, has always been the coach who can make it to the playoffs even with not the strongest roster. Yes, there's no doubt that he already made it to the playoffs with Amur in the 2017/2018 season. And it would seem that he is returning to Amur, when the team this season is actually investing in the squad and signing top-tier players. All odds favour the team's best result ever in the KHL's history. But it seems things have not got going yet. Considering the recent matches, no victories in regular time in last five encounters, and just two beyond it.

Only five points out of 10 possible. But after the break, Amur managed to pick up three out of four points. Currently, Amur sits at ninth place in the league standings, having gathered 42 points after 42 games. These points Amur earned due to 14 victories in regular time, three beyond it and other eight defeats with one point. The team lost the other 17 matches without earning extra points. Amur's main problem is their attack, ranking second-last in terms of goals scored. As for goals conceded, they fare a bit better, ranking fifth from the bottom with 108 goals.

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

The Nizhnekamsk team is striving to make the playoffs by fair means or foul. Last season, they managed to get out of a similar difficult situation and made it to the playoffs, surpassing Tractor with additional indicators. However, this task seems to be much harder to achieve this time. Simply because Nizhnekamsk's team is eight points behind the playoff zone with only 26 matches left to play, which constitutes one-third of the championship. Furthermore, the team's main leader, Nail Yakupov, is likely to miss the entire season. He will be recovering from surgery for at least six weeks.

But after the pause, Neftekhimik finds themselves in the same situation as Amur, having picked up three out of four possible points. Right now, Neftekhimik sits at the tenth place in the league standings, having collected 39 points from 42 matches. The Nizhnekamsk team amassed these points courtesy of 12 victories in regular time, three beyond it and nine defeats with one point. The team has lost the other 18 games without additional points. Currently, Neftekhimik is the third-best team in the East in terms of goals scored — 93. However, the situation is even worse in terms of goals conceded — ranking second-last with 133 goals.

Head-to-Head

Amur and Neftekhimik have played 41 matches against each other. Amur won 16 matches while Neftekhimik won 21. This season both matches went in Neftekhimik's favour — a 3:2 shoot-out win and a 4:0 victory in regular time.

Prediction

Amur is the favourite for this match, with Betsiti offering odds of 2.33 for the hosts' victory. Neftekhimik's victory is priced at 3.00. While it could be tempting to take a risk and opt for Neftekhimik's victory, in reality, it's extremely risky to choose either side as the match could swing either way.

Prediction for total

My suggestion would be to opt for TO (4.5) with odds of 1.87. Even though both teams have not exceeded this total twice in this season and stayed on four goals, I believe that now is the moment when it could finally be exceeded.