Dinamo Minsk continued their turnaround in results in the Vysshaya Liga last weekend with a solid point on the road in a 1-1 draw at Vitebsk which followed a previous 1-0 home win over Isloch Minsk, and the hosts will be confident that they can extend this unbeaten run against Shakhtyor this Saturday.
These recent results will have been very welcome indeed for the hosts as Dinamo Minsk had previously suffered back-to-back defeats against Slutsk and Dinamo Brest, but the recent upturn in results has helped lift Dinamo Minsk up into 10th place on the Belarus top flight ladder.
There’s also hope on home turf for Dinamo as they’ve won three of their five matches to date in their own backyard with wins over Torpedo Zhodino, Neman Grodno and Isloch Minsk, but the two defeats suggest a vulnerability which may get exposed against Shakhtyor - instead, the goals market appeals here as four of their five home matches have resulted in under 2.5 goals.
Shakhtyor Soligorsk extended their unbeaten run in the Belarus top flight to five matches last weekend when they recorded a convincing 4-0 win at home against Belshina which lifted the visitors up into 4th place on the Vysshaya Liga table.
Four wins out of their last five matches will give Shakhtyor Soligorsk plenty of confidence in getting a result on the road at Dinamo Minsk having registered wins over Dinamo Brest, Isloch Minsk, Slavia Mozyr and Belshina, while the visitors have also kept clean sheets in each of these last five matches too.
In addition, Shakhtyor also bring a four-match unbeaten run away from home into this upcoming clash which also includes four clean sheets on the trot as they’ve picked up wins at Gorodeya and Dinamo Brest in 2-0 victories along with 0-0 stalemates at Smolevichi and Vitebsk, while each of the four results have all produced results under 2.5 goals.
The bigger picture shows that goals have been in short supply where Shakhtyor Soligorsk have been concerned away from home in the Belarus top flight as 13 of their last 17 matches on their travels have produced 2 goals or less.
To sum up, this could be a low-scoring affair between two defensive-minded teams where goals have been scarce in prior matches.