Russian League
2009-09-13 - Spartak Nalchik vs Lokomotiv Moscow
A Sports Betting Pick by Pavel
Football: Russian Premier League 2009
Sunday, 13th September 2009 - kickoff 13:15
Spartak Nalchik (15th) Home 2-5-2 12:9
Spartak won a crucial 6-pointer against Amkar in Perm to get within one point of life-saving 14th position. The first away victory of the season came just in time as Yury Krasnozhan’s men now look good to once again keep a place in the Russian elite division.
Amkar had their chance early in the game, but with a little bit of luck and Radic’ saves Spartak hanged on to get the opening goal through new-signing Shamil Asildarov. It always looked a “whoever scores first-wins” type of match before the start and visitors proved the theory.
Remarkably Spartak comes into the home fixture against Lokomotiv with a 2 games winning streak, for the first time in the current season. Krasnozhan did a great job during the transfer window by bringing in striker Asildarov and midfielder Samsonov.
Both players, who had successful spells in Nalchik before and know the manager perfectly, did not need time for adaptation. Spartak started getting benefits from the duo straight away.
Lokomotiv Moscow (5th) 1-4-4 7:13
Lokomotiv has his eyes set on a top 3 finish, which at some point looked completely out of reach.
Another 3-point match, this time against Kuban’ at Cherkizovo, moved Railway Boys into pole position to leap frog CSKA and Moskva into the 3rd place, which grants a ticket to Champions’ League 2010/11.
Loko played its’ first match after Bilyaletdinov’s transfer to Everton. There were hardly any nostalgic signs in their gameplay as the new custodian Vagner moved in the lime-light position left by the 24-year-old captain.
Yuriy Semin had a nervous 60 minutes as Kuban’ even took a surprising lead, but the following quarter of an hour saw Lokomotiv score 4 and register a deserved 4-1 victory.
Railway boys will try to repeat successful performance of Spartak Moscow in Nalchik. Relegation strugglers from Kabardino-Baikalya have been especially lethal in home fixtures: the likes of Zenit, Moskva and Rubin were all allowed a maximum of one point.
Semin’s main advantage will be physical fitness of his players. Spartak Nalchik is one of the slowest teams in the Division and moreover they ran out of gas earlier than the majority of opponents, while Lokomotiv at the moment is arguably the fastest of all in the Premier League.
The likes of explosive sprinters such as Sychev, Yanbaev and Torbnisky may be too hard for Spartak to cope with.
Betting Advice
Although trips to Nalchik have never been easy for anyone, Lokomotiv seems unlikely to lose ground here. Railway team is playing arguably its' best football at the moment.
Wouldn't dare to bet against Lokomotiv.
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Lokomotiv (-0.25)@ 2.02 or Lokomotiv DNB, but before the kick-off as the odds for away win are going up.
