Neftekhimik and Ufa lock horns in this Russian FNL round 33 clash at Neftekhimik Stadium in Nizhnekamsk late Saturday evening Beijing time. This is the second-tier of Russian football and the level is not very high by global standards. The difference compared to the first tier is substantial! I am afraid football fans and us football bettors cannot hope for a particularly good-level battle here – even by FNL standards – or an entertaining game.. A total of 34 matches will be played in the regular season. The key thing here is motivation. Indeed, the hosts are in the 12th place in this league with a total of 18 teams. They have 41 points to their account and have nothing left to play for. They will surely try to entertain the home fans but I still do not expect the atmosphere at the stadium to be that great today. In fact, Neftekhimik have not been particularly strong at Neftekhimik Stadium this season. They have won just five of the 16 matches in front of their fans. In their most recent home game, on the 13th of this month, they were abysmal and lost to Rodina Moscow 1-5. Yes, it is true that the final score does flatter the visitors but the hosts were still unbelievably bad. Their defense did not seem to have any kind of reasonable structure and the defenders made several stupid mistakes. The hosts have been in poor form overall recently and have not won any of their most recent four games. They lost two and played two draws in these four matches. 

The hosts have been lucky in terms of expected points so far this season. Indeed, their number of xPTS is just 36.12. Even so, by pure class they are a little better than Ufa. However, today I see Ufa as solid favorites as they are in a fierce battle to avoid relegation. This is usually the strongest possible motivation in football – even stronger than the desire to win the championship. They have 32 points to their account but their number of expected points is bigger – 35.12 to be precise. Four worst teams will relegegate after the season and Ufa are currently in 16th place, They took a very important win in their most recent match over Kamaz 1-0 showing great fighting spirit. Velez Moscow, currently in 15th place have just one more point to their account. Kuban, the first team in ”safety” have grabbed 35 points. I expect Ufa to be aggressive and leave everything on the pitch. Let's hope they take at least a point. Before the win over Kamaz they played quite well against a good team, Yenisey at home and it was a 2-2 draw.

北京时间周六晚，在尼日涅卡姆斯克的涅夫特希米克体育场，涅夫特希米克和乌法在俄罗斯民族解放联盟第33轮比赛中发生了冲突。这是俄罗斯足球的第二梯队，按照国际标准来看，他们的水平不是很高。与第一层相比，差异是巨大的!恐怕足球迷和我们的足球投注者不能指望在这里有一场特别高水平的比赛——即使按照FNL的标准——或者一场有趣的比赛。常规赛一共有34场比赛。这里的关键是动机。事实上，东道主在这个联赛中排名第12位，总共有18支球队。他们的账户上有41分，没有什么可以为之奋斗的了。他们肯定会尽力取悦主场球迷，但我仍然不期望今天球场的气氛会那么好。事实上，涅夫特希米克本赛季在涅夫特希米克球场的表现并不是特别强。他们在球迷面前的16场比赛中只赢了5场。在本月13日的最近一场主场比赛中，他们表现糟糕，1-5不敌莫斯科罗迪纳。是的，最后的比分确实让客队感到高兴，但主队仍然糟糕得令人难以置信。他们的防守似乎没有任何合理的结构，防守队员犯了几个愚蠢的错误。东道主最近整体状态不佳，最近四场比赛一场都没赢。在这四场比赛中，他们两负两平。

本赛季到目前为止，东道主在预期积分方面还算幸运。实际上，他们的xpt数量只有36.12个。即便如此，就纯粹的阶级而言，他们还是比乌法好一点。然而，今天我看到乌法是一个坚实的热门，因为他们在激烈的保级战。这通常是足球运动中最强烈的动力——甚至比赢得冠军的欲望还要强烈。他们的账户上有32分，但他们的期望值更高——准确地说，是35.12分。四支最差的球队将在赛季结束后降级，乌法目前排名第16位，他们在最近的一场比赛中以1比0战胜卡马斯，表现出了伟大的战斗精神。目前排名第15的莫斯科维列兹队只剩下一分。库班队在“安全”上率先拿下35分。我希望乌法更具侵略性，把一切都放在球场上。希望他们至少得一分。在战胜卡马斯之前，他们在主场对阵叶尼塞这样一支强队时踢得很好，结果是2比2战平。