Despite the worldwide chaos caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Belarusian Premier League continues to play on as Dinamo Minsk host Neman Grodno on Thursday.
Dinamo head into the tie following a 1-0 loss to Gorodeya, while Neman drew 1-1 at home to bottom-of-the-table Belshina Bobruisk last time out.
Match preview
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As the Vysheyshaya Liga prepares to enter its fifth gameweek of the season, Dinamo fans would have been hoping for a much more impressive start from the seven-time champions.
Sergey Gurenko's men have not finished outside the top four since 2007, but currently find themselves down in 14th after only picking up one win from their opening four matches.
Dinamo's solitary victory came against high-flyers Torpedo BelAZ, but that 2-0 win earlier in April has since been overshadowed by poor performances against sides that they would have expected to beat.
Fellow strugglers Rukh Brest recorded a 1-0 victory against Gurenko's side in the opening game of the season, and Dinamo have since lost to Gorodeya and local rivals Minsk in an underwhelming start to the campaign.
Dinamo were unable to find a way through against Gorodeya despite enjoying 63% possession, and Danilo Sousa Campos's red card compounded a miserable outing for the seven-time Belarusian champions.
Meanwhile, Neman would have been equally disappointed with their last result, as rock-bottom Belshina rescued a point to leave Igor Kovalevich's side ruing their missed chances.
Similarly to Dinamo, Neman have also chalked up a single win from their opening four league matches, a comfortable 2-0 victory over FC Vitebsk.
Neman have been one of the ever-present teams in the Belarusian top flight since 1992, but the closest that Kovalevich's side have come to achieving domestic glory was their second-placed finish in 2002.
Since then, Neman have fluctuated between the top and bottom half of the table, but have slowly fallen down the rankings after placing sixth in 2017.
Futhermore, Neman's away form does not bode well for them heading into Thursday's clash; they have only picked up one win on the road in their last nine attempts, chalking up a mere two goals in that time.
Dinamo Minsk Vysheyshaya Liga form: LLWL
Dinamo Minsk form (all competitions): LLLLWL
Neman Grodno Vysheyshaya Liga form: LWDD
Head To Head
The two clubs have met 58 times in all competitions, with Dinamo recording 30 wins compared to Neman's 14. Interestingly, 10 of Neman's victories have come on their travels.
Kovalevich's side recorded a 1-0 win in the corresponding fixture last season, which was their first victory against Dinamo since 2016. However, Gurenko's side got their revenge by the same scoreline in the most recent meeting.
We say: Dinamo Minsk 2-1 Neman Grodno
While Dinamo have failed to hit the ground running during the early stages of the campaign, they have the superior record against a Neman side who have been poor on the road, so we're going for a narrow home win.
Ben Knapton
