To Nizhnevartovsk with hope
On Saturday Gazprom-Yugra, if everything is ok (pah-pah-pah, knocking on wood), will play in Nizhnevartovsk with Ugra-Samotlor. For the first time in the long history of the Ugra derby, circumstances have developed in this way, that Surgutyan cannot be called the favorites of the upcoming fight. well, so it will be more interesting!
One gets the feeling, that Nizhnevartovsk residents have a non-aggression pact with coronavirus. First, the pandemic saved our neighbors from the struggle to survive in the Super League, and then diligently avoided the team (spit over my shoulder again). In the offseason, the club retained the main striking force in the person of Vitaly Papazov, found a good boost in the end-game in the person of Yegor Bogachev and experienced Dmitry Makarenko and looks cheerful and combat-ready. Particularly worth noting is the tenacious play of our opponent in defense and safety net, to the floor "Samotlor" this season is finished off by few and infrequently.
Samotlor has won two championship victories, and the Nizhnevartovsk team beat those, to whom did we concede. "Belogorye" was defeated in Belgorod, at home - "Enisey". clear, that we fought with the Krasnoyarsk youth team, and in Belgorod just started to get out of the personnel crisis, but the fact remains - we won't be favorites on Saturday.
But victories in Nizhnevartovsk always have a special taste for Surgut residents., so we will fight. The last matches highlighted our problem areas: this is, primarily, diagonal. Over the past years, this position has been invariably decisive in the game "Gazprom-Yugra", Suffice it to recall Konstantin Bakun or Machei Muzai. Today there are no performers of this level, but that's not the problem, - Rodion Miskevich, invited to the role of the main miner, cannot reach his level in any way. Which would definitely be enough to fight the same "Samotlor". And his substitute Rajab Shakhbanmirzayev is trying, looks good at times, but not yet ready to take on the main load in the Super League.
The second caveat - Evgeny Rukavishnikov feels not very confident after leaving quarantine. It is seen, that he lacks the accumulated automatism, and therefore, confidence in playing at the first pace, often "float" at the transfer rate to the edges of the net. All this is also fixable, but also requires playing time - last season we saw, how Rukavishnikov is able to add during the championship. But who has already added, and seriously - this is Ivan Nikishin, showed excellent volleyball in the last game against Dynamo. I think, in a meeting with former teammates, he will have a special incentive for quality play.
In general, if progress as a volleyball, which has been seen in the last two matches, will allow Gazprom-Yugra to reach a more or less familiar level, a hot battle awaits us in Nizhnevartovsk. What are we, properly, and we look forward to every meeting of the Ugra teams. In this strange season, the Ugra derby definitely looks like a bright spot for the fans and the teams will try to live up to their expectations..
