Sunday’s hosts, Vitebsk, stumbled to a second defeat on the trot on Sunday in the Vysshaya Liga against Slavia Mozyr after seemingly being in the driving seat and set to take all three points.
The hosts were 2-1 up with just four minutes remaining on the clock but two quick-fire goals from Slavia Mozyr saw the game completely turned on its head and the visitors walked away with a seemingly unlikely three points as a result.
Vitebsk will be smarting from this defeat which followed a previous 2-0 loss away from home at Isloch Minsk, but they do have home advantage at their Stadyen Central'ny Vitsyebski where they’ll be hoping they can set the record straight this Sunday against Shakhtyor Soligorsk.
Prior to that disappointing loss on Sunday, Vitebsk had registered back-to-back wins over Gorodeya and Dinamo Brest, both by 1-0 margins, and they’ll be keen to bounce back with a win in front of their home fans this weekend no doubt.
However, Shakhtyor have won the previous two encounters against Vitebsk so the hosts may have their work cut out here.
Onto Shakhtyor Soligorsk, and the visitors grabbed a third win on the trot in all competitions when they recorded a resounding 4-0 romp at home over Isloch Minsk on Sunday which helped them up into 6th place and just 2 points adrift of 3rd placed BATE.
Following a disappointing opening day 1-0 defeat at home to Torpedo Zhodino, Shakhtyor have since staged a solid recovery in the Belarus top flight as they’ve suffered just 1 further defeat from their subsequent 6 matches, which was a 2-1 loss at home to the current league leaders, Slutsk.
But although results at home have produced an indifferent return to date having won 1, drawn1 and lost 2, Shakhtyor have impressed on the road so far this season as they still remain unbeaten on their travels thanks to wins at Gorodeya and most impressive of all, Dinamo Brest, as well as picking up a point at Smolevichi.
With just 2 defeats out of their last 13 matches away from home in the Vysshaya Liga, Shakhtyor Soligorsk will also fancy their chances of getting something out of this upcoming encounter with Vitebsk, as the visitors look to maintain their unbeaten start on the road.
Shakhtyor Soligorsk could therefore nick the points at Vitebsk this Sunday.