Last Updated : 16th April, 2020 By Steve A

VENUE

various venues in Belarus

TIME

April 17/18

See Stats

The action continues in the Belarus Premier League with another set of fixtures on the 17th and 18th of April. Our preview looks ahead to the top games being played as BATE Borisov host the league leaders Torpedo Zhodino.

Belshina v Smolevichi - Friday 17 April: 3.30pm KO

The bottom two face each other in this Belarus Premier League game. Both sides were promoted from League One last season but are aleady finding life in the top flight difficult. Belshina are bottom of the table with just one point from their first four. That came in their last match when drawing 1-1 at Neman Grodno. Before that, they lost their first three games and had to come from behind to get that point last weekend. Their opponents only have two points and have only scored one goal in their four league games but conceded only twice. They have shown some promise with a draw at defending champions Dinamo Brest and a home draw with Shakhtyor. These two sides have scored just three goals between them this season, a bet on under 2.5 goals is the tip for this basement battle.

FK Ruh Brest v FC Minsk - Saturday 18 April: 12pm KO

Ruh Brest are 13th in the Belarus Premier League, having earned four points from their first four league games taking them to 13th in the table. They won promotion via the play-offs last season and started this new term with a 1-0 win away at Dinamo Minsk. Since then though they have only earned a point from three games losing to both Energetik and BATE Borisov before drawing away at Slavia Mozyr. The goals have dried up in the last three games though with not one scored.

FC Minsk are in 10th at the time of writing this preview. They kicked off their season with wins over Belshina and Dinamo Minsk, however both those sides are currently in the bottom three. Their last two games have been lost though with defeats by Energetik and BATE Borisov with five goals being conceded. They have failed to score in those two games but should be able to do better in this game. A double chance bet on Minsk is the suggested wager.

Isloch Minsk v Slavia Mozyr - Saturday 18 April: 2pm KO

Isloch Minsk are eighth in the table after four games. They would like to be higher though considering they won their first two matches with wins over Neman Grodno and Smolevichi. Both were won 1-0 but it's gone wrong since with a 3-2 home defeat by FC Slutsk and a 3-1 loss away at Dinamo Brest. Disappointing defeats considering they led in both of those matches and they will want to get back into winning ways here.

Slavia Mozyr are in fifth, two points behind the league leaders Zhodino. Not a bad showing as their opening league game was lost 3-1 at FC Slutsk. They have had two good wins since though with victories over BATE Borisov and a 2-2 win at last season's league champions Dinamo Brest. It's not just in the league that they are going well. Slavia got another win over BATE beating them 1-0 at home in the first leg of their Belarus Cup semi-final. Last weekend saw them draw 0-0 with Ruh Brest. Their away form is good though with two wins in the last three league games. A double chance bet on them in this game is the one to go for.

BATE Borisov v Torpedo Zhodino - Saturday 18 April: 6pm KO

BATE Borisov are seventh in the league and take on the league leaders (at time of writing) Torpedo Zhodino. The home side made a poor start to the new season losing away games at Energetik and Slavia Mozyr. They have turned their season around since those two losses beating Ruh Brest at home and then beating FC Minsk 3-0 away. BATE hae only one loss in their last 14 home league games, hence them being the favourites to win this match.

Zhodino have nine points from their four league games. They started the season with a couple of wins over Shakhtyor and Belshina, both by a 1-0 scoreline. Their ubeaten run ended with a 2-0 loss at Dinamo Minsk but they got back in winning ways by beating leaders Energetik at home. Away form isn't so good though with only one win in their last six. That doesn't bode well for this trip to BATE and a home win looks likely.