ნეფტეხიმიკი - ლენინგრადეცი

This one is a bottom-half meeting in the First League, and the table makes it matter. Leningradets are 14th on 13 points after 13 games. Neftekhimik are 15th on 12, with 4 wins and 9 defeats, and only two points clear of the relegation places. Neftekhimik come in on poor form. They have won one of their last five, losing 4-2 at home to Chelyabinsk on 9 October, and their next game is at KamAZ, who sit just below them. Islam Mashukov leads their scoring with three league goals, and Danila Sukhomlinov has two. Leningradets have drawn four and lost six, conceding 23 times, the heaviest burden in this pairing. They lost 3-1 to Torpedo on 10 October and were beaten 6-0 at Nizhny Novgorod earlier. Maxim Bachinsky is their top scorer with two goals. We found no head-to-head record from this season to lean on. Our prediction: 1-1