First match of the New Year: what could be better than Novosibirsk?
New, 2024 Gazprom-Yugra opens the year with a most difficult trip to Novosibirsk. On the other hand, if the favorite is known in advance, it is easier for his opponent to mentally prepare himself for the fight. In this sense, Novosibirsk is a great option to start the year, try your hand at one of the strongest teams in the country.
Lokomotiv is always in the medals after the championship in 2020: "bronze" in 2021 and 2023, "silver" in 2022. And this season the team is on track for the championship schedule: current first place with only one defeat from the capital Dynamo. But at home they beat Zenit Kazan to a clean sheet..
The main “place of power” of Novosibirsk residents is well known: this is the center of the grid. Having Dmitry Lyzik and Ilyas Kurkaev in the composition, Konstantin Abaev has the most powerful weapon, including the pipe from under such blockers. But everything is fine at the edges too: until Alexander Atanasyevich arrived (and this should happen just in January), the third scorer of the Super League in terms of points scored, Ilya Kazachenkov, lights up the diagonal, and veteran Pavel Kruglov is always ready to provide him with qualified assistance.
The final game at Lokomotiv cannot be called a bottleneck, but against the general background, this is where rivals are looking for loopholes. Omar Kurbanov is good in attack, but may not be stable in reception, Alexandra Kostadinova, vice versa, more often released to the back line, Bulgarian legionnaire Martin Atanasov does not always demonstrate that, what is expected of him, and the experienced Sergei Savin is just gaining momentum after a long absence from the site.
Well, the liberos in Novosibirsk are high-quality. This is also experienced, Roman Martynyuk, who started in Surgut together with Alexey Rodichev, and the talented Sergei Melkozerov, who has been sitting in St. Petersburg behind Zhenya Grebennikov’s back.
Lokomotiv is equipped very seriously, but in the last matches Gazprom-Yugra proved, which can at least play decently with the leaders, create problems for them. There were times, when the Surgut team beat Lokomotiv in Novosibirsk, and the same Alexey Rodichev remembers them perfectly. by the way, He is the one who has something to show and prove on the site of his former club, as, however, and to all other Surgut residents. It is in matches with such teams, like Lokomotiv, character is forged for future victories.
