On Friday, a thunderstorm hit the south of Russia, so the flight that Loko flew to Yekaterinburg was delayed for several hours. Nevertheless, the team arrived safely and trained on Saturday according to the schedule.
In addition to the 12 players who were on the roster for the first two matches, Mikhail Vedishchev, Danil Sheyanov and Artyom Chevarenkov arrived with the team.
30-40 Loko fans are expected at both games in Yekaterinburg – the majority of them will be employees of the Sverdlovsk Railway, a branch of Russian Railways in Yekaterinburg. Uralmash announced a sellout for Sunday’s game – all tickets sold out. This season, the 5,000-seat stands of the Yekaterinburg Palace of Game Sports (DIVS) gathered more than 4,000 spectators three times: on October 6 against UNICS (4,732), on October 21 against Zenit (4,247), and on January 26 against CSKA (4,987). Uralmash lost all three of these matches with an average difference of -19.
Numbers confirm Yemchenko’s words: in the 2024/25 season, Lokomotiv Kuban suffered only 5 defeats in away games, while at home – 8 (including the playoffs).
As for Uralmash, they play equally both at home and away: they have 12-10 at home and 13-11 (including the first two games of the 1/4 finals) away.
The above statistics prompted us to make another calculation: what results Uralmash and us show in different kits. And here is what we found out.
The black and fiery kit that Lokomotiv Kuban presented at the beginning of the playoffs was the third for us this season. Playing in it, we showed a 1-1 result.
26 games were played in the classic red-green kit: we won all 4 away, and at home we have a 15-7 record.
Also, we played 18 times in the white kit, all away; the result is 13-5.
Uralmash also have used three kits. The main one (judging by the frequency of sporting) is black. In it, the Urals played 14 times at home (8-6) and 9 times away (8-1), and the only away defeat in this kit was inflicted on them by us, back in the fall (October 14, 91:80).
As for the white kit, the Urals team has 3-3 in home games; 3-8 (including the playoffs) away; anlso, Uralmash in white have won 2 of these 3 away matches against us.
They also have an orange kit, in which their record is 1-1 at home and 2-2 away.
What conclusion can be drawn from these numbers? None. You have to play hard regardless of what you are sporting. It is not kits that score, defend, and collect rebounds, but people.
Everyone who has read this far – thank you, and here’s the fun fact for you. Maybe you know that the first ever name of Krasnodar was Yekaterinodar. So know that Yekaterinodar and Yekaterinburg are named after different Yekaterinas (Catherines the Empresses)!
The metallurgical plant on the bank of the Iset River, as well as the fortress around it, were named after Catherine I Alekseyevna, the wife of Peter I.
The Cossack fortification on the bank of the Kuban was named after Catherine II the Great.
They have I, we have II. If the results in the series after the Sunday’s game will be the same, we won’t complain.