Salavat Yulaev Ufa - HC Traktor Chelyabinsk predictions and free betting tips [29/02/2024]

Kontinental Hockey League Playoffs. Gagarin Cup 2024. First Round. Eastern Conference. Kicking off the game day, the opening match of the whole 2024 playoffs and a battle between the third and sixth spots of the conference, already a playoff KHL classic. Salavat Yulaev will host Traktor from Chelyabinsk in Ufa. The series score is 0:0.

Salavat Yulaev Ufa

Undoubtedly, the Ufa team enters the playoffs as the favourite in the first round. They finished the season in the leading trio of the East and were fighting for the conference victory until the last moment. However, their trip to the western part of the KHL greatly affected their position in the tournament table. To put it simply, Salavat Yulaev has only five points out of the possible ten from the last five games. That is, the Ufa club won only two of the last five matches. It's also important to mention that the Ufa club is experiencing salary delays currently.

Everyone is discussing how Salavat Yulaev hasn't paid salaries for the second month now, and it's a big question when they will be paid. Last time, players received their money only after the playoffs ended. After last year, Salavat Yulaev may have first-round fears, where they, the team was almost declared a top favourite, lost to Admiral. It's quite intriguing to see what the Ufa club would achieve in this first round.

Traktor Chelyabinsk

The situation at the Chelyabinsk club is quite interesting. While at the Ufa club, we are talking about unpaid salaries, Traktor is discussing different problems such as conflicts between the head coach and the management, a crisis in the dressing room and many other issues. Perhaps all of this resulted in Traktor ending up only in the sixth place in the conference. However, this should not be forgotten, the team from Chelyabinsk missed the last playoffs. Thus, their current performance is already better than last year.

Traktor has four victories out of their last five matches prior to the playoffs. The last three games can be attributed to situations where neither Traktor nor their opponent needed anything. Regardless, Traktor approaches the playoffs with a decent streak of three consecutive victories. There's still a question about the level of the team since the last two victories were only beyond the main game time. But nonetheless, they are definitely approaching the playoffs in a good mood. What happens next is a question yet to be answered.

Head-to-head meetings

Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Traktor Chelyabinsk have played 59 matches against each other. Among these, the Ufa club has won 34 matches, while the Chelyabinsk team has won 24. This season, all four meetings were won by Salavat Yulaev – 5:3, 4:3 and twice 4:0.

Forecast

I would bet on the Chelyabinsk team to win, since according to statistics, the first match in the series against Salavat Yulaev always goes to the Chelyabinsk club.

Total Forecast

However, I appreciate even more the option with TO (4.5) for 1.90. Even though both teams allowed very few goals in the regular season, they also scored no less. So, five goals scored between the two of them seem quite realistic.