Belarus Premier League: Saturday football betting previews & free tips

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Belarus Vitebsk v Gorodeya & Isloch v Neman Grodno in the Belarus Premier League.

Best bet

Gorodeya & draw double chance (11am)
3pts 8-11 bet365
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Belarus Vitebsk v Gorodeya preview

Two sides who propped up the over 2.5 goals table in the 2019 Belarus Premier League might not be fancied to lay on a classic, but visitors Gorodeya have the player who could make a real difference.

Striker Artim Arkhipov was a revelation at the end of last season for Gorodeya, bagging eight goals in 12 matches after arriving from Russian third-tier unit Zorkiy.

And with five goals in his side’s last three friendlies – including both goals in their most recent 2-1 defeat of Neman Grodno – he’s clearly in top form for a side who finished seventh last year.

Gorodeya scored only 31 goals last term but defensively they were superb, and got better after Alex Poznyak was signed in July. The 25-year-old centre-back went on to win his first Belarus cap last month.

Gorodeya have to be confident going into the new season while Vitebsk look hard to fancy.

They signed off last term with no wins in their last five games, losing their last four, and their pre-season results have been poor.

Their top scorer last term was Anton Matveenko with four goals, hence the purchase of Moldovan striker Ion Nicolaescu to beef up their attack.

Vitebsk were the lowest scorers in last year’s Premier League (of those clubs who finished the season) and they have won just one of their last nine home matches.

Best bet

Draw (1pm)
1pt 13-5 bet365
Back this tip with bet365

Isloch v Neman Grodno preview

Isloch and Neman Grodno are two of the clubs hoping to make a charge for a top-three spot in this season’s Belarus Premier League and there may not be much to choose between them in Minsk.

The last meeting between the sides ended 1-1, Isloch’s last five league and cup matches have ended in draws and the pick of their pre-season results was a 1-1 draw with Zenit St Petersburg.

They trade in stalemates and this could well be another.

Isloch look as though they are going to be tough to break down following a pair of hard-fought 0-0 draws against champions Dynamo Brest in the cup quarter-finals earlier this month. Dynamo went through on penalties.

Nikolai Yanush, who scored 11 goals for Shakhtyor last season, has been added to their roster while Neman have been on a striker search of their own in a bid to add some firepower.

Igor Kovalevich has signed a trio of new frontmen, among them Armenia international Gegham Kadymyan, who they picked up from Sheriff.

Nineteen of Neman Grodno’s 29 completed league games last season produced under 2.5 goals and 13 of them ended in 1-0 scorelines. They clearly like close encounters.

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