Baltika – Dynamo M

Andrey Talalaev's team will finish the season with a home win.

Baltika didn't have enough to last the entire season in the Russian Premier League. At the winter break the team went in as one of the strongest and most distinctive squads in the championship. The team performed well in March and April, but stopped winning altogether. There are many reasons for this. First, Andrey Talalaev received another suspension, and also spent some time away from the squad due to health reasons. Second, the players became somewhat unsettled. Some were lured by a contract with another club, some couldn't withstand the pressure of the Premier League, where there are no easy games at all. When it became clear that the Kaliningrad club would not be able to contend for third place in the table, its results for the current season for the first time slid into a series of defeats. Baltika goes into the final round in sixth place, with a chance to move up to fifth if on Sunday they perform better than CSKA. Moscow Dynamo spent the last months of the season fighting for the Russian Cup. Having been eliminated last week in the Russian Premier League Cup final in a penalty shootout with Krasnodar, the White and Blues brightened the end of the season by taking revenge on the Bulls in the league, where they effectively deprived them of the title. After the hard-fought victory over Krasnodar in the last match of the season at home, the Dynamo players will find it extremely difficult to muster motivation for the away game of the final day. Bookmakers have named the home team favorites for the upcoming clash, offering odds of 2.43 on their victory. Baltika lost the last three rounds by the same score, 0-1. The opponents were Akron, Rubin and Lokomotiv. It can't be said that Talalaev's team didn't try in those matches, but the lack of their usual spark was felt. Despite the absence in the last round of Bryan Hill, Maksim Borisko, Alexander Filin and Kevin Andrade, Baltika's coach will be able to tune his players for the last home match of the season, at the stadium that has always been almost completely packed with spectators. The Dynamo players seem to have almost no tournament motivation left. Moreover, Rolan Gusev will not be able to count on Maksim Osipenko, Ivan Sergeev and Rubens. Let's bet on a home win.