On Sunday, August 31, Akron will play against Baltika in Samara. The Kaliningrad club has been the major revelation of the championship: Andrei Talalaev's team is currently sitting in fourth place in the RFPL. Before the season, bookmakers predicted relegation for the Kaliningrad side. Akron, on the other hand, has been underperforming – they are currently only in eleventh place in the championship.

Zaur Tedaev's team has won just one match in the RFPL. In the second round, Akron managed to crush the hopeless Sochi away with a score of 4:0. At that point, it seemed that two very bright players had emerged in Russian football: Dmitry Pestryakov and Maxim Boldyrev had secured their places in the lineup alongside Dzyuba. Since then, both the team’s and the players results have declined.

After the defeat to CSKA, Artyom Dzyuba spoke ominously. The forward urged the management to consider the quality of the squad. The veteran lamented that he has to play alongside inexperienced youth. There is currently a very tense atmosphere within the team. Additionally, Stefan Lonchar mysteriously lost his spot in the starting lineup. The foreign player was the best player of the club last season.

An interesting statistical detail about Akron: betting on goals being exchanged has occurred in six consecutive matches. Artyom Dzyuba remains a successful scorer: the forward has netted three goals and provided two assists in the RFPL.

Baltika is experiencing one of the best moments in its history. The Kaliningrad team has yet to lose a match. Andrei Talalaev has assembled a very strong squad in the elite. Baltika has already faced Dynamo, Spartak, and Lokomotiv. Now there’s a chance to climb even higher in the table.

Baltika has its own top scorer – Brian Zhil has scored five goals. The foreign player is in second place in the scoring race, only behind Alexey Batrakov.

Baltika's results are supported by statistics. The club indeed creates many threats on goal, and their defence ranks among the top five in the league.

However, the odds for the upcoming match are still surprising. Akron's odds have been set too high – you can find odds at 3.50. Baltika’s odds have dropped to 2.00. Interestingly, the opponents have already played in the Russian Cup this season. Akron was the favourite before that match, with odds of 2.50. It is hard to imagine a match with such a huge advantage for the Baltic players now.

Baltika currently has an active streak of five matches with a total under. The team prefers to play defensively and organize quick counter-attacks. It is possible that Akron will indeed give the ball to the nominal favourites and play more cautiously. A draw is quite likely – the guests are unlikely to refuse such an outcome and will take risks for the win.