Belogorie Belgorod - Kuzbass Kemerovo predictions and free betting tips [06/04/2024]

In the third quarter-final series of the men's volleyball Super League, "Belogorie" and "Kuzbass" from Kemerovo will face off.

Belogorie

The Belgorod club has once again regained its Tula registration and performs all its matches at the brand-new "Tula Arena", also hosting "Tulitsa" in the women's Super League games. Significant changes have taken place in the coaching staff during the off-season. To everyone's surprise, the management appointed Alexander Volkov, a man with vast playing experience, but who had never before led a men's professional club, as head coach. In addition, a second foreign player joined the team: Zhang Jingyin, a spiker from the Chinese national team.
The Belgorod team kicked off with two consecutive victories against "Gazprom-Ugra" and "Samotlor", not allowing either opponent to win a single set. However, a surprise defeat by Orenburg's "Neftyanik" (3:1) then followed.
In the second half of November, the team's performance varied: a victory against both "Zenits" with a score of 3:1 and a defeat in four sets by Moscow's "Dinamo" and Novosibirsk's "Locomotive".

In their following matches, the Belgorod team (Tula-based) racked up 15 consecutive victories and entered the playoffs from the 3rd place.
In the quarter-finals, "Belogorie" thrashed "Kuzbass" in the first match (3:0), but then conceded in a tie-break in Kemerovo.

Kuzbass

In the early rounds of this championship, the Kemerovo team achieved 7 wins in 10 matches, including a victory over Moscow's "Dynamo" (2:3). After the New Year, the team's performance dipped, losing in 4 out of 6 matches in January and slipping into the play-in zone. The situation improved in February due to victories over "Neftyanik" (3:0), "Ugra-Samotlor" (1:3), "Nova" (3:1) and "Dynamo" (3:0).
Nonetheless, Kemerovo's team ended the season poorly, losing 3 out of 5 matches and dropping to 6th place.
In the 1/8 final, "Kuzbass" defeated "Nova" on the road (1:3), but with the same score, they lost the home match, thereby turning the match into a "golden set" in which they triumphed with a score of 15:13.
In the first quarter-final match, "Kuzbass" lost to "Belogorie" with no chance (25:16; 25:21; 25:12). In their home game in Kemerovo, the team took revenge in a tie-break (22:25; 25:22; 25:23; 14:25; 18:16).

Head-to-head

This season, the teams exchanged victories in the regular season (3:2; 3:0) and the playoffs (3:0; 3:2).

Match prediction

Belogorie lays a claim to medals this season and the team is clearly not planning to delay their advancement to the semi-finals. A challenging match in Kemerovo broke the Belgorod team's 16-match win streak, but the team remains one of the top contenders for the podium. I believe that in Tula tomorrow, Belogorie will beat their opponents with a handicap by sets (-2).