Zenit St Petersburg vs Dinamo Minsk Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Zenit’s clash with Dinamo Minsk this Thursday is arguably the pick of the 2nd Leg games, and it’s all down to the mammoth task facing the hosts following last week’s disaster in the Belarussian capital.

Sergey Semak’s side travelled to the Traktor Stadium last Thursday as overwhelming favourites to win on the night and progress through to the Play-off Round, however they were blown away 4-0 thanks to a brace from Uros Nikolic and goals from Nino Galovic and Vladimir Kvaschinski.

It was Zenit’s biggest defeat on the continent and one that put a severe dent in both their chances of qualification and the overall recent pedigree that they’ve established in Europe.

Winners of this competition in 2007/08, Zenit have reached the last 16 of the Champions League on three occasions since lifting that trophy, so their 1st Leg hammering at the hands of relative minnows was a real come down.

Better will be expected this Thursday from the hosts who’ve made a 100% start to the Russian Premier League season following victories against Yenisey, Arsenal Tula and Rubin Kazan.

Performances like last week indicate though that Minsk may not be classed as minnows for much longer.
Compatriots BATE Borisov have steadily built a decent profile and reputation in Europe over the last few seasons, and it looks as though Dinamo are keen to follow in their footsteps.

Seven-times Belarussian champions, Minsk’s best run on the continent came in the 1983/84 European Cup when they made the Quarter Finals. They have enjoyed little success since but did reach the Europa League Group Stage twice in 2014/15 and 2015/16, albeit exiting tamely on both occasions.

Progression to this season’s Group Stage will certainly be the realistic aim now for Sergey Gurenko’s charges who currently sit 2nd domestically, and it will be fascinating to see how their four goal advantage holds up in the face of what is likely to be a real Zenit onslaught at the Krestovsky Stadium.

It’s important to note that last week’s result wasn’t down to Zenit fielding a grossly weakened side. The likes of Driussl, Shatov and Rigoni all started for the Russians – but they were simply outclassed and outgunned on the night in front of goal.

So it’s a bit of a mockery that Zenit are such firm favourites to win in 90 minutes here. Their quality should come to the fore, and they’ll probably win on the night, but the long odds-on makes no appeal.

With the hosts needing to chase matters from the get go, and with Minsk already proving that they have a real eye for goal, we think Both Teams to Score is the clear standout bet here.

It should be thrilling and it should be high scoring, so we’re also going for a 4-2 home success – a result which would of course be good enough to see the ‘underdogs’ through to the next phase.