Plenty of goals on offer as BATE host Neman
15-time champions BATE Borisov host Neman Grodno on Sunday in the Belarusian Premier League. Can the big boys continue their excellent run of form and keep pace with the front-runners? Have a read of our preview here:
With BATEd breath
Fans of BATE Borisov (BATE being an acronym for Borisov Automobile and Tractor Electronics) have been waiting for their team to click into gear after a poor start to the new season.
Back-to-back defeats to open the new campaign saw BATE well off the pace in the initial early rounds but they appear to be back to their old selves after a string of impressive performances.
Last weekend will have pleased head coach Kirill Alshevsky. They were favourites on their trip to Gorodeya, but they still had to play well in order to pull off a solid 2-0 victory to leave them on 10 points after six games.
The most pleasing thing about the upturn in form is the defensive performances. BATE have now kept four consecutive clean-sheets.
Gorodeya made them work hard for the win last time out, but late goals from star man Stanislaw Drahun and a stoppage-time strike from Anton Saroka were enough to see them through.
It’s just like watching Brazil
Neman Grodno come into this game off the back of an excellent 3-0 win at home to Energetik-BGU. The three points and clean-sheet were more than deserved but the football was something else.
Their third goal would have been lauded over if it had been scored in the UK or another big European football nation, as Pavel Zabelin headed home his second from a silky team move.
Their yellow shirts are, therefore, not the only thing they have in common with Brazil making their game with BATE very tasty indeed.
BATE Borisov vs Neman Grodno betting tip
BATE have been playing a lot better in recent weeks and will be hoping that continues on Sunday. Neman are full of confidence after an excellent display last weekend against Energetik-BGU so will provide a stiff challenge. That’s why we are backing both teams to score at odds of 31/20 with 888sport.
Post bet chat James's Tips:
BATE will be pleased with this 3-1 win despite not being able to keep a cleansheet.