FK Ufa vs Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast
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Today’s free tip is in the Russian Premier League encounter between FK Ufa and Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast.
Back when Semak was in charge, FK Ufa’s naturally tenacious style was fused with a confident attacking brand of football (where applicable) and they were the darlings of the Russian media for it. To think that a team from nowhere, with very few ‘known’ footballers, could produce such excellent football, huh? Anyway, nature took its course, and Zenit St. Petersburg appointed the impressive Russian manager as the man to lead their band of mercenaries, and that’s gone swimmingly for them. However, it’s left FK Ufa with little to write home about, sadly.
True enough, FK Ufa have made plenty of money from player sales over the past few years; I really don’t see them struggling financially, especially not with Red Bull purported to be interested in making the club the latest that they own in their growing list of football clubs. I think FK Ufa should be very positive about that, were it to transpire. Red Bull get a lot of stick for what they’ve done in German football with RB Leipzig, but I’ve not seen them do anything negative to the Bundesliga. They’ve made it more competitive, given younger players a chance to impress – what’s wrong with that? I doubt that such things are a focal point of Red Bull, but if it’s a consistent by-product, I really don’t see a reason to chastise them for their plans.
Anyway, I digress – FK Ufa are no longer that entertaining attacking team. They’ve still got the same phenomenal work-rate, but it’s now almost exclusively reserved for defending. Only Zenit St. Petersburg have conceded less goals than FK Ufa this season, which tells you how cast-iron the FK Ufa setup is under Evseev, who was a defender himself during his playing career. It’s not pretty, and it would strain credulity to call it efficient, but it’s bloody good at frustrating other Premier League clubs. The bottom line is that it has kept them in the Premier League this season, and that’s the focal point for the team – for now.
Although relegation and a UEFA Europa League place are both technically possible for FK Ufa this season, I don’t see either as being likely to happen. They don’t score enough goals to catch the teams above them, and they don’t concede enough, nor panic enough, to be roped into the relegation battle. Therefore, wins aren’t really paramount to FK Ufa right now. There’s absolutely no reason to believe they’ll take any unnecessary risks today too, although I expect their motivation levels to be at a premium because it’s FK Ufa we’re talking about, and they always are.
So why oppose them now? They’re going to sit back and soak it up, as always – what makes Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast able to do what all of the big Moscow clubs have failed to do this season by winning at the Stadion Neftyanik? Simply put, team news. FK Ufa’s starting eleven is strong, they understand one another, and they work hard. They do not have much depth. Therefore, when they’re missing regulars, it’s a big problem for them. For today’s game, not only are they without target man Vombergar, but also Thill and Carp. Now, it can be argued that Vombergar can be replaced, and I don’t have a strong enough argument to go against such. However, I know that they cannot replace Thill and Carp. Thill is an all-round central midfielder, and Carp’s role is a more defensive one, either in front of the back four or as a part of it. Those two keep the FK Ufa defensive shape together. Without them, I believe that FK Ufa’s only tactical approach is serious jeopardy, and Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast should be able to capitalise upon such.
The away team have done well in their past couple of games, despite returning from the Covid-19 break with an embarrassing defeat at home against Rubin Kazan. They’ve won away from home in the Russian Cup, beating Shinnik Yaroslavl 2-0, and more recently beaten Tambov 2-1 at home in the Premier League, which is a potentially invaluable result for them in the battle against relegation. That battle is far from over though, and Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast cannot afford to rest on their laurels because of one handy league result. Their next two games after this are against FK Krasnodar and Dinamo Moscow, neither of which they look particularly likely to win, so picking up three points today is even more important.
Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast are only without Kabaev today, who is ineligible for the fixture, having only just joined from KAMAZ Nab Chelny. All of their heavy-hitters are available today, which is handy. The away team are nowhere near as good at the back as FK Ufa. Indeed, I don’t know about you, but I’m always a bit surprised when they keep a clean sheet nowadays. Fortunately for us, their opponents have little to no attacking threat so I am not particularly concerned by Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast’s defensive shortcomings.
What I am interested in, however, is their attack. I wouldn’t get carried away with it, per se, but there are good players that they have to utilise. For example, veteran striker Pogrebnyak is a decent enough target man at this level, even at thirty-six years of age. Panyukov is a good enough accomplice for him too, not that he ever fulfilled the potential he showed during his A Lyga days. Former CSKA Moscow midfielder Efremov already looks a valuable addition to their squad too. The main two for Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast are Bicfalvi and El Kabir though. The latter is more of a speedy dribbler, capable of making things happen, but generally is too inconsistent to be wholly relied upon. Romanian playmaker Bicfalvi is the heart of this attacking operation though, consistently weighing in with goals and assists. Those two players must feature in this game if the tip is to win as they’re the ones that can hurt FK Ufa’s lack of regulars the most.
Essentially, Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast have ways to break FK Ufa down, which is naturally very important here as they’re the only one of the two teams actively trying to win the game. Bicfalvi did the business for today’s visitors when the two teams last met, back in July, and I think he’ll do the same again today – he’s more than good enough. Funnily enough, that result ensured that Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast are now responsible for bagging just over a sixth of the goals that FK Ufa have conceded all season long in the Premier League. I wouldn’t read too much into that, but it’s just one of those funny little facts that it’s interesting to mention where applicable!
Ultimately, I just don’t have the grounds to believe that Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast will mess this one up. The very least they should get from this match against injury-ravaged FK Ufa is a draw. They need to push for the win though, and they won’t have a better chance than this to win away from home against FK Ufa. Therefore, my tip is to back Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast to win with draw no bet cover at evens.
Verdict: Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast to win with draw no bet at evens.
Sunday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Austrian Bundesliga:
LASK vs Salzburg
Wolfsberger AC vs Rapid Vienna
Sturm Graz vs Hartberg
Bulgarian A PFG:
Lokomotiv Plovdiv vs Beroe
CSKA Sofia vs Ludogorets Razgrad
Croatian Prva Liga:
Hajduk Split vs NK Osijek
Rijeka vs Dinamo Zagreb
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Slovan Liberec vs Slavia Prague
Banik Ostrava vs Viktoria Plzen
Sparta Prague vs Baumit Jablonec
Danish Superligaen:
FC Nordsjaelland vs FC Midtjylland
Aalborg BK vs Brondby
AGF vs FC Copenhagen
Hobro vs Randers
English Premier League:
Burnley vs Sheffield United
Newcastle United vs West Ham United
Liverpool vs Aston Villa
Southampton vs Manchester City
Finnish Ykkonen:
MP vs KPV
Gnistan vs Jaro Pietarsaari
Icelandic Urvalsdeild:
KA vs Breidablik Kopavogur
Italian Serie A:
Internazionale vs Bologna
Cagliari vs Atalanta Bergamo
Parma vs ACF Fiorentina
Udinese vs Genoa
Brescia vs Hellas Verona
Sampdoria vs SPAL
SSC Napoli vs AS Roma
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Molde FK vs Mjondalen
Bodo/Glimt vs Brann Bergen
Stromsgodset vs Kristiansund
Sandefjord vs Sarpsborg 08
Odd vs Haugesund
Stabaek vs Rosenborg BK
Portuguese Liga 1:
Gil Vicente vs Rio Ave
Tondela vs Famalicao
FC Porto vs Belenenses
Russian Premier League:
FK Ufa vs Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast
Rubin Kazan vs FK Orenburg
FK Krasnodar vs Zenit St. Petersburg
Spanish Primera Liga:
Athletic Club vs Real Madrid
RCD Espanyol vs Leganes CF
CA Osasuna vs Getafe
Villarreal CF vs Barcelona CF
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Elfsborg Boras vs Malmo FF
AIK Solna vs Falkenberg
Sirius vs Orebro
BK Hacken Goteborg vs Hammarby
Swiss Super League:
Luzern vs FC Thun
St. Gallen vs FC Sion
Young Boys Bern vs Lugano
Turkish Super Lig:
Kasimpasa vs Sivasspor
Konyaspor vs Rizespor
Galatasaray vs Trabzonspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!