Football Results

Surprising final of the Russian Cup since of the finalists is Ural, team that is positioned in the bottom half of Russian Premier League table. Lokomotiv was the title defender but it failed to do so and winning the Cup would save the season. They still fight for the second place in the league, the last that directly leads to the group stage of the Champions League, while Ural has no more worries about its survival. The two teams met in the league on last Sunday and the result was a tie, 2-2.

Lokomotiv Moscow

Lokomotiv is again in situation to win a title this season and perhaps it is a great chance if we take into consideration who is the other finalist. Lokomotiv eliminated several much stronger teams on its way to the final like Rubin or Rostov in the semi-finals and they didn’t lose a single match. Ural is such opponent that Lokomotiv should be afraid of it, although they didn’t manage to defeat the team this season. In the first part of the season Lokomotiv lost at home to Ural 2-1, and it drew with them in Yekaterinburg on last Sunday 2-2.

Lokomotiv was first to take lead, then it trailed behind and finally An. Miranchuk scored his second goal that equalised the result. They had a player more for last 25 minutes but they failed to materialise the advantage. Lokomotiv is still the second and have better H2H score with Krasnodar so it need to win Ufa in the last round to keep its current position. Out of action due to injuries are Howedes, Barinov and Farfan.

Probable lineups Lokomotiv Moscow: Guilherme – Idowu, Kvirkvelia, Corluka, Lysov – Krychowiak – Zhemaletdinov, Al. Miranchuk, An. Mirachuk – Eder, Smolov

Ural

Ural spent a bigger part of the season in the bottom half of the table and it even occupied the drop zone for some time. They had feared for their status practically by the very end but they can have peace of mind now as one round before the end it is impossible to get relegated. Ural was in fact certain that will avoid such fate a bit earlier despite rather mediocre performances in the finish of season when they have four-game winless streak. The streak started with two defeats, and continued with two draws, or more precisely they drew three times in a row if we count the 2nd semi-final leg when they drew with Arsenal in Tula 2-2.

It was a very stressful match despite winning the first leg at home 1-0 and had a lead of 2-0 in Tula. Bicfalvi was sent off early and then their problems started. The home team scored two goals and Ural played in fear in last 20 minutes but they managed to draw and here are they, in the final, which is a feat by itself. On its way to the final Ural eliminated Spartak Moscow. Bicfalvi is suspended after red card and that is a handicap for Ural since he is one of best scorers in the team.

Probable lineups Ural: Godzyur – Kulakov, Strandberg, Polyakov, Merkulov – Boumal, Fiedler – Aratore, Egorychev, El Kabir – Panyukov

Verdict:

The final will be played on neutral ground in Samara but despite that Lokomotiv is a great favourite to win the title. They are much stronger individually and are in better shape at the moment, although we need to mention that they failed to win Ural two times this season. We expect that Lokomotiv succeeds now, when it is the most important.

Pick: Lokomotiv wins 1.82 - 82/100 @1XBet