- Volga have 2 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses in their last 10 matches across all competitions.
- Yenisey are in better form than Volga, winning 7 of their last 10 across all competitions.
Side with the under at 1.73
The hosts are in poorer form than the visitors, but Volga Ulyanovsk are still on a 1-2-2 run across their last 5 competitive games, and this Volga Ulyanovsk vs FC Yenisey Krasnoyarsk prediction suggests a tight contest. They are a solid side that can grind out results, but a lack of penetration in the final third has left them teetering on a knife-edge in their most recent 3 matches - a 0-1 home defeat to FK Sokol Saratov, a 2-2 draw at Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk and a 0-3 home loss to FK Fakel Voronezh.
In contrast, Yenisey are a much sharper unit this season and arrive here on the back of 3 wins in 5. Sergei Tashuyev's side have improved from last year when they were more pedestrian and have been rewarded for their press-first strategy which is designed to force teams into mistakes and transition.
A tight, tense and tense match looks likely
These sides have played out very similar games in this division - last season's reverse fixture finishing 1-1 at the Arena Yenisey. Volga haven't got the better of their opponents in their last 3 H2Hs (W0, L1, D2) and Mikhail Belov's side are unlikely to fancy their chances against a team who have much more bite than they did 12 months ago.
The hosts usually control the game at their own pace and try to unlock their opponents by playing wide and probing for the killer pass from the corners. However, this can backfire against a pressing side as Belov's players don't tend to dominate possession or win the second ball in numbers and can be susceptible to turnovers in their own half, which is why the prediction leans toward a low-scoring affair.
Yenisey have a real target man in attack
There is little to choose between the sides on the stats, but Yenisey are the more impressive in recent weeks and that's why we are going with the under here - Under 2.5 goals at 1.73 and Both Teams To Score - No at 1.92.
Yenisey average 2.17 goals per game on their travels across all competitions and concede an average of 1.33 goals, so we should see an open game on Saturday. However, Volga are equally as proficient at shutting the game down and averaging just 0.83 goals per home game tells its own story as they have lacked penetration in the attack.
Vladislav Yakovlev has been their most reliable finisher, scoring 2 of their 4 goals across the last 5 matches, while Yenisey's danger man Andrey Okladnikov has 3 of their 7 in the same period. Both teams possess a target man and it's a question of whether Volga can break Yenisey down or Yenisey can cause enough havoc in the channels to force a mistake. A low-scoring tie or one goal margin win for the home side is the most likely outcome, and the betting tips point to the under.
