Cup semi-finalists begin back to back encounters
Reigning champions Dinamo Brest host misfiring Shakhtyor Soligorsk this Saturday, in the first of back to back meetings as their Belarusian Cup semi final tie will conclude next week. Brest are 2-0 up in that fixture from the first leg and travel to Soligorsk to book a place in the final to take on either Slavia Mozyr or BATE Borisov. These two were defeated by a one goal margin in their last outing and therefore will be looking to take maximum points and get climbing the table in this one. Dinamo Brest are strong favourites, they sit in 10th with five games played.
Last time out
Brest were involved in one of the more shocking results of gameweek five, losing 1-0 away to Vitebsk, one of the surprise packages so far. They sit second, with the top three all on 10 points from five outings. Brest were favourites to win and yet lost the shot 13 to nine despite having 56% possession. A respectable draw was looking likely late in the piece, but it was not to be with Moldova international Ion Nicolaescu converting an 87th minute spot kick.
Soligorsk were involved in a more entertaining affair that ultimately ended in disappointment once again, going down 2-1 at home to Slutsk. It was another excruciatingly frustrating performance in front of goal from Saturday’s visitors, they won the shot count 24 to eight and conceded from the two shots on target that they faced in match. They also missed some guilt edged chances in the closing exchanges to rescue a point. The result left Shakhtyor looking over their shoulders in 13th place having only scored once since the opening day. Yet their creativity and statistics suggests they are better than their recent form and will begin to climb the table soon.
One to watch
Former Neman Grodno winger Pavel Savitskiy is the key man for the hosts in this encounter. He has scored in the last two matches when he started for the club and is a versatile threat from all angles Soligorsk will need to be aware of. The Belarus international has scored 32 and assisted 12 in 74 appearances for the reigning champions and in that boasts one of the best attacking CV’s in the division.
Soligorsk will turn their fortunes around in the weeks to come, however with the knowledge from their 2-0 win over them in the Cup match, Brest will get an important win here.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
Dinamo Brest will be frustrated to lose out 2-0, failing to score despite 15 shots on goal. A vital win for Soligorsk sees them leapfrog the reigning champions who sit 14th.