Friday’s hosts, Slutsk, will bring a 3-match winning streak into their upcoming clash against Energetyk-BGU at their Stadyen Haradski as the home side look to not only continue their current winning momentum but also remain top of the Vysshaya Liga.
Recent victories against Shakhtyor Soligorsk 2-1 away, a 3-2 home win over Belshina and last weekend’s 2-1 win on the road at Dinamo Minsk have helped Slutsk remain top of the Belarus top flight but they are still just 2 points above 2nd placed Torpedo Zhodino who are hot on their heels, as well as an ever-improving BATE outfit.
Nevertheless, it’s been an impressive start to this new domestic top flight campaign for Slutsk who have won 5 of their 7 matches played to date whilst suffering just 1 defeat so far this season.
Although results on home turf at their Stadyen Haradski have produced a mixed bag of returns, Slutsk have lost just 2 of their last 8 matches at home and they’re also unbeaten in their previous 4 meetings against Energetyk-BGU as well.
Onto Energetyk-BGU, and the visitors currently occupy 4th place on the Vysshaya Liga ladder thanks to their latest 2-0 win on the road at strugglers, Smolevichi, which halted a worrying losing streak for them.
After making an impressive start to their new Vysshaya Liga campaign as they racked up 3 straight wins to start the new term, Energetyk then suffered a 3-match losing streak which threatened to undo all their promising work in the early weeks of the new season.
Victories over BATE, Rukh Brest and FC Minsk were offset by defeats to Torpedo Zhodino, Gorodeya and Neman Grodno, but Energetyk will be hoping that the recent win against Smolevichi has set them back on track.
However, Energetyk’s results away from home have also produced mixed returns for the visitors as they’ve lost 5 of their last 11 matches on their travels in the Belarus top flight, and as mentioned earlier, they’ve also failed to beat Friday’s upcoming opponents, Slutsk, in each of their previous four encounters.
In addition, Energetyk-BGU have captured just 4 wins from these last 11 matches away from home, two of which were towards the end of last season while the two wins this season have been against teams situated in the bottom half of the Vysshaya Liga.
This therefore looks like being a straightforward home win for Slutsk here.