FC Minsk vs Dinamo Minsk Predictions

• Dinamo are unbeaten in 14 visits to the FC Minsk Stadium
• Minsk have not beaten Dinamo inside 90 minutes since 2011
• Four of Dinamo’s last nine wins over Minsk have been by a 2-0 scoreline

Dinamo Minsk have endured a rotten start to the 2020 season in Belarus, having been dumped out of the cup by BATE Borisov and losing their first league outing of the new campaign at home to top-flight new boys Ruh Brest, however, expect a reaction in the derby against FC Minsk.

Sergei Gurenko’s side head across the Belarusian capital on Saturday to face rivals FC Minsk in a bid to kick-start their season and are deservedly favourites with bookmakers to do so.

Hosts Minsk opened their league campaign with a comprehensive 3-1 win at newly-promoted Belshina but their record in this derby makes for especially grim reading. Since reaching the Belarusian Premier League in 2007, Minsk have met their city rivals 29 times in league and cup matches and have won on just four occasions.

Perhaps even more worrying for their fans is that all of those triumphs have come away from home with eight draws and just six goals to show for their efforts from 14 meetings at the FC Minsk Stadium.

Indeed, the last time they recorded any kind of victory over Dinamo was on penalties in the final of the 2013 Belarusian Cup and their last win against their rivals inside 90 minutes was in November 2011.

Even with such contrasting starts to their respective campaigns it is difficult to look beyond the superiority Dinamo have held in this fixture in its 13-year history and a look back at their respective league finishes in that period also favour the visitors.

While Dinamo have been a fixture at the top end of the table, Minsk have flitted around mid-table for most of their time in Belarus’s top division. Last season Dinamo finished fourth, five places and 14 points better off than Minsk.

They look a good bet to open their tally for the campaign and at bigger odds backing them to win 2-0 could also be worthwhile. Eight of Dinamo’s last nine victories in this fixture have been to nil – four of which have been by this scoreline.