Kick-off: 1400, 05/04/2020
Stadium: Vitebsky Central Sport Complex
Vitebsk will look to build on their opening home win against Gorodeya when they host Vysshaya Liga newcomers Smolevichi on Sunday afternoon.
The early indicators point towards a tight clash at the Vitebsky Central Sport Complex, with the home side scoring only once so far which came courtesy of an own goal from Gorodeya forward Dmitri Ignatenko.
Smolevichi have also scored only once during their first two league games, picking up just one point on their return to top-flight football in Belarus.
Home advantage and their win on the first matchday gives us enough confidence that Vitebsk, at a price of 13/10, should come out on top and that is our opening Vitebsk vs Smolevichi prediction.
A Look At Vitebsk’s Betting Odds
Vitebsk scraped to survival during the 2019 season as they avoided the drop by one point in a cramped relegation battle in the Vysshaya Liga.
Sergey Yasinsky’s side did, however, reach the Belarusian Cup final against Shakhtyor Soligorsk but fell to a 2-0 defeat despite playing at the Vitebsky Central Sports Complex.
Vitebsk will be worried over their lack of goals having scored only twice in the league in their last seven matches – one by defender Nikolai Zolotov, who has since left the club, and Ignatenko’s own goal two weeks ago.
Lack of goalmouth action has been a theme for Vitebsk, with 10 of their last 11 league matches having under 2.5 goals, while the same has been in Smolevichi’s last five league clashes.
We are confident that it will happen again, with under 2.5 goals priced at 9/20 in the Vitebsk vs Smolevichi odds.
A Look At Smolevichi’s Betting Odds
Smolevichi returned to Belarus’ top flight this season after finishing second in the First League.
They made their debut in the competition in 2018 but were relegated in their maiden campaign and will be targeting survival this time around.
Smolevichi started with an opening 1-1 draw at Dinamo Brest, with Vladislav Mukhamedov breaking the deadlock before Kiki Gabi equalised for the defending champions.
A 1-0 reverse at Isloch followed as they still await for their first victory since returning to Vysshaya Liga.
At least one team has failed to score in 12 of Smolevichi’s last 16 away league matches – dating back to their promotion campaign – and we feel that this match will be another low-scoring affair.
This also applies in 16 of Vitebsk’s last 19 league games so it is likely that both teams will not score at a price of 3/5 and that rounds off our Vitebsk vs Smolevichi betting tips.
Additional stats
Last result:
Neman 2-0 VITEBSK
Isloch 1-0 SMOLEVICHI
Head-to-head: Smolevichi 1-1 Vitebsk, Vibetsk 4-0 Smolevichi
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