Shakhter Soligorsk vs Slutsk Predictions

• Shakhtyor have won only five of their last 14 Belarus Premier League matches.
• Slutsk have only lost one of their four league outings this season.
• Slutsk are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League this term, scoring seven goals and conceding four.
• Each of Shakhtyor’s last two games have ended as draws.

Shakhtyor struggle to hit their stride

Shakhtyor have long been a big player in the Belarusian footballing pyramid, finishing inside the top three in each of the last 10 top flight campaigns and only failing to build on their single title victory because of BATE’s utter dominance.

That being said, the hosts failed to take advantage of a rare BATE slip up last season as Dinamo Brest loosened their iron grip on the Belarus Premier League. They finished 3rd in the end, and the new campaign has hardly started with a flourish.

Shakhtyor opened the season with a defeat to the much-improved Torpedo Zhodino and have since won just one of their four competitive games. Apart from their Belarus Cup semi final trip to Dinamo Brest, none of their opponents have been particularly challenging ones either.

Attack-minded approach pays off for Slutsk

This slow start to the season will give Slutsk fans a lot of hope coming into this clash. The visitors, who finished just four points clear of the relegation playoff position last season, have enjoyed a relatively bright start to the 2020 term.

Their 1-1 draw with Vitebsk last weekend made it seven points from their opening four games, with victories at home to Slavia and away to Isloch sandwiching their only defeat of the season – a home clash against reigning champions Dinamo Brest.

It’s not just the Slutsk fans impressed either. With 12 goals in their four games so far, the neutrals are loving Slutsk’s attack-minded approach to the game. They are yet to keep a clean sheet, so even a Shakhtyor side struggling for goals should find a ways through their leaky defence.

Shakhtyor slump set to continue

Despite the visitors’ promising start to the campaign they still find themselves massive underdogs in the market and, considering Shakhtyor have now won just five of their last 14 league matches, backing a Slutsk win or draw double chance looks favourable.

We’re expecting another stalemate on Friday though. Shakhtyor have drawn their last two league games, and with Slutsk failing to keep a clean sheet so far a 1-1 correct score prediction seems a good choice.