SKA Khabarovsk
- SKA Khabarovsk have failed to win their last five league matches, drawing two and losing three, and have conceded 12 goals in that spell.
- SKA Khabarovsk are 14th in the Russian First League on 35 points from 31 matches while Ufa are 15th on 31, so this is a relegation ‘six pointer’ for both sides on Sunday.
- SKA’s 0-3 defeat to Shinnik last weekend triggered the departure of head coach Alexey Poddubsky and Mikhail Semenov’s appointment as interim.
- Both sides are desperate for the win to stay clear of the relegation zone so there should be some added pressure for the two sides and the odd set-piece or defensive mistake could be pivotal.
- In the absence of a regular coach, Semenov will surely try to restore some confidence and solidity to his team after a shaky few weeks.
- SKA have been setting up in 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 with a lot of width in recent weeks but the departure of Poddubsky seems to have derailed the tactical fluency of this team that can be quite pragmatic at times.
FC Ufa
- FC Ufa have won one, drawn two, and lost two of their last five FNL matches, having struggled to score goals and lost twice by a single goal.
- Tetradze has got his team to be compact, press hard to get the ball back and then hit teams on the counter-attack in a very structured philosophy.
- The problem seems to be a lack of a reliable goalscorer and concentration at the end of games when they conceded late goals to lose to Rodina in their most recent heartbreaker.
- The defensive frailty of SKA will be in the spotlight and goalkeepers Islam Imamov and Aleksey Kuznetsov will need to be at their best.
- Jacobo Alcalde and Dylan Ortiz have been the main threats for their respective sides.
- Ortiz is also influential and Kamran Aliyev links up well with Alcalde from deep, so the visitors should come through okay.
Head-to-Head
- SKA Khabarovsk and FC Ufa have played each other 14 times in all competitions since 2012, with SKA winning just once, Ufa winning four times and nine games ending in a tie, with the last three being tight contests.
- The last two meetings between the clubs in the Russian First League were a 1-1 draw in July 2025 and a 3-3 draw in October 2024, while November’s game in Khabarovsk finished 1-0 to the hosts - a rare home win for SKA.
Key Players
- Goalkeepers Islam Imamov and Aleksey Kuznetsov will need to be at their best.
- Jacobo Alcalde and Dylan Ortiz have been the main threats for their respective sides.
- Kamran Aliyev links up well with Alcalde from deep.
Betting Insights
- The bookies make SKA the slight favourites at 2.52 to win this match, with Ufa 2.93 and a tie 3.24, so the home edge is significant in the bookies’ eyes for a fixture that has traditionally produced deadlocks.
- Under 2.5 goals at 1.63 looks the best play for this fixture, however, because SKA have been conceding too many goals and Ufa have not been scoring enough of them.
Prediction
- Both sides are desperate for the win to stay clear of the relegation zone so there should be some added pressure for the two sides and the odd set-piece or defensive mistake could be pivotal.
- A narrow SKA win or tie is more likely than a Ufa victory, however, given the hosts’ home advantage and preference from the odds compilers for the home side.
