Gorodeya and FC Minsk will be seeking a return to winning ways in the Belarusian Premier League when they face off at Gorodeya Stadium on Friday.
The hosts have slipped down to 10th after back-to-back winless games, while opponents Minsk are a point worse off in 12th after a heavy defeat in their most recent outing.
Match preview
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A run of three wins on the spin last month, culminating in a 1-0 victory at Energetik-BGU, left Gorodeya just one point off the summit.
All three of those victories were by a 1-0 scoreline as Oleg Radushko's men managed to grind out nine points from nine.
They have since lost 2-0 at home to BATE and drawn 1-1 against Rukh Brest in cruel fashion, with Ilya Kolpachuk scoring a 90th-minute equaliser for Rukh.
Having finished ninth, ninth, ninth and seventh in their four seasons since earning promotion to the top flight for the first time, a top-half finish seems the most likely aim for Gorodeya.
That is also true for Minsk, who ended in fourth place in 2019, earning a place in the Europa League qualifying rounds.
Andrey Razin's charges have not exactly flown out of the blocks this time around, however, with back-to-back victories to begin the season being followed up by four losses from the last five.
Minsk failed to score in three of those defeats and were thrashed 5-2 by high-flying Torpedo-BelAZ last time out, meaning that they are now closer to the bottom of the table than the top in terms of points.
Not surprising given the margin of last week's loss, Minsk have the worst defensive record in the division, conceding 15 times in seven matches.
Gorodeya have shipped six goals, but they have badly struggled up the other end of the field with just four goals to their name.
Scoring more goals has to be the target for the hosts, who have lost three of their last four league matches at Gorodeya Stadium.
Gorodeya league form: LWWWLD
Minsk league form: WLLLWL
Head To Head
Minsk were 2-1 winners in the most recent meeting between the sides at Gorodeya Stadium seven months ago, courtesy of a late double from Oleksandr Vasyliev.
The home team have not won this fixture in the last six encounters, in fact, with two wins apiece and two draws.
We say: Gorodeya 1-1 Minsk
Both teams have struggled for wins of late and find themselves in the bottom half of the division, albeit at what is still an early stage in the campaign. One win can change everything, but we are tipping this one to finish all square - a result that favours neither side.
Daniel Lewis
