This weekend sees the meeting between the top two teams in the Belarus Premier League. BATE Borisov begin the weekend sitting in first place on 16 points while Slutsk are in 2nd place on the same number of points but behind on goal difference. The two teams come together on the 16th of May at the Borisov Arena.
BATE come into the match in particularly good form having remained undefeated in their last 6 games in all competitions. They have won 5 of those matches including their most recent game in the league which came at Smolevichy-STI last Sunday. Despite conceding a goal in the opening minutes of the game, BATE came back to score 5 goals and win the match 5-3.
That was their fourth victory in succession following the wins over Gorodeya away and Neman Grodno at home in the league plus Slavia at home in the Cup.
BATE seem to have recovered from what was a disappointing start to the campaign. They have won by 2 or more goals all of their last 3 Belarus Premier League games and have won by 2 or more goals in 8 of their last 14 home league matches. BATE 9 have 9 wins in their last 12 home league games and have managed to score at least 2 goals in 10 of their 14 most recent home league matches.
Slutsk have enjoyed a good start to the season despite losing their most recent game which was a 2-1 home loss at the hands of Energetyk-BGU. Slutsk fell 2 goals behind in the opening 30 minutes of the game and despite getting a goal back just before half time could not force an equaliser.
That was their first defeat in their last 6 matches in all competitions. Having lost in their second game of the season Slutsk went on a run which saw them win 4 of their next 5 Belarus Premier League games. Their away record this season has been perfect as they have won each of their 3 away league matches. The victories have come at Isloch, Shakhtyor and Dinamo Minsk and Slutsk scored 2 or more goals in each of those 3 victories.
Trends show both teams scored in Slutsk's last 6 matches in the league and they have scored 2 or more goals in 7 of their 10 most recent games in the Belarus Premier League.
Team news and BATE could remain unchanged from the starting XI last weekend. The only changes may come in defence having conceded 3 goals against a team which scored 3 times in their previous 7 matches before last Sunday.
Slutsk have Nigerian midfielder Umar Mohammed Bala in their ranks and he has scored 4 goals this season. Russian striker Artem Serdyuk is expected to start the game up-front.
This has the makings of being an extremely exciting game and going by BATE’s defensive performance last weekend expect to see Slutsk score a goal. However, BATE appear to have turned a corner this season and should have enough to win the game with both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals.