twenty-first round: battles of equals

In the twenty-first round, by the will of the "snake", the teams got into the "joints", basically equal in strength. That is, the tour will turn out to be especially interesting with a cherry on the cake in the form of a battle between two Zeniths in St. Petersburg, although the match in Tula will be super interesting. The maximum number of tie-breaks and generally frying is expected.

Most recently, Sosnovobortsy breathed into the back of the head of Lokomotiv, but the defeat from Dynamo, coupled with the victory of Novosibirsk over Zenit St. Petersburg, increased the distance by two victories. Konstantinovites have a good chance to widen the gap to a comfortable three victories, to focus on the main rival in the fight for direct access to the quarterfinals - Belogorye. But this chance has yet to be realized.. After such emotional outbursts, as in the twentieth round, an involuntary decline may occur and Dynamo-LO is quite capable of taking advantage of this.

For every Zabolotnikov there are Likhosherstov and Vlasov, on al-Khachdadi - Tsvetanov, on Tetyukhin - Podlesnykh, on Poroshina - Pankov. Rare case, when "Belogorye" will not dominate and it is very interesting, How will the team perform under pressure?. Teams have roughly the same trump cards, the question is, where and who will crack in a collision. Dynamo looks more monolithic, but Belogorye is able to repeat the history of the Russian Cup semi-finals. No doubt there would be a match of the tour, if not for the game in St. Petersburg. But in terms of content, I would venture to put this confrontation in first place..

Another equal pair, in which much will depend on the mood. Both teams play unevenly, alternating inspirational volleyball with error parades. Predict, what foot will the players start on, very difficult, in any case, these differences will be noticeable. Much will depend on Babkevich's condition - if the diagonal hosts are in good working shape, "Torch" will have an additional bonus.

Two equal opponents from the bottom of the standings will be desperately cut, understanding, that the opportunity to win does not come up very often - for the most part, in such confrontations. The hosts can once again try to play open volleyball at the limit of their own abilities, what is fraught with both potential success, and a lot of mistakes with all the consequences. And they can try to play carefully, allowing the opponent to make mistakes. Neftyanik probably has the same dilemma: risk or endure? This will be a coaching game., tactics win.

Strong "Yenisei" against the uncompromising ASC - another battle of neighbors in the standings. In these matches, it's all about the details., sometimes it's luck. It will be difficult to surprise each other with something, the match will turn into a viscous rubilovo, where one player with a hot hand can say the decisive word. Surnames are known: Skrimov, Dmitriev, Yakovlev with the hosts, Zheleznyakov, Antonov, Titi?, Pyatyrkin and, perhaps, Guests' kitchen. It is important for binders to find this hot hand, and partners to support.

The game is more than for leadership. Equality by name, but in the team component, Kazan looks a little more preferable. The owners, with all their power, have not fully formed the killer instinct - then, which allows you to pull out similar games on your teeth. And Kazanians have it in their blood, there is a certain club mentality of the winners. Nevertheless, I wouldn't claim, that guests are stronger. The absence of Viktor Poletaev is Peter's pain, but even without him, the team can cope with any opponent, if each player gives the maximum efficiency.

Rare on tour, when there is a clear favorite. But "Nova" in the status of an underdog managed to bite "Dynamo-LO" in Sosnovy Bor - why not repeat it in Kemerovo? Especially, that the Kemerovo team will surely give the opponent the opportunity to breathe on the court: due to own mistakes or bottlenecks. If this breath is intermittent, Kuzbass should not have any special problems, but it's not worth it to relax too soon: Nova has nothing to lose, the team will climb the barricades.

Vanga is difficult, but: