Torpedo Belaz Zhodino v Rukh Brest

High flying Torpedo Belaz Zhodino are looking to maintain their 100% home record as they welcome top-flight newcomers Rukh Brest to the Stadion Torpedo in Zhodino.

TORPEDO BELAZ ZHODINO

Torpedo have had a brilliant start to the Belarus Premier League this season. They currently lie 3rd on the log with 10 points, tied with the top two but with a slightly inferior goal difference. They have picked up very impressive victories against Shakhtyor Soligorsk, Belshina Bobruisk and Energetik. They lost 2-0 at Dinamo Minsk and they were lucky last weekend to escape with a goalless draw against former champions BATE Borisov in a game they were second best for most of the match. They have their keeper to thank for pulling a string of saves and they also thanked the heavens when BATE’s Pavel Nekhajchik missed a penalty in the first half.

One thing Torpedo’s coach Yuri Puntus can take pride in his squad is their resolute defence. Apart from the 2-0 loss at Minsk, his boys have kept a clean sheet in all the other games they have played this season. They have been particularly good at home where they won the two games they have played while completely shutting out their opponents. Given how resilient they were last weekend against BATE, it is not inconceivable to expect them to keep yet another clean sheet on Sunday against newcomers Rukh.

In spite of heavily relying on their defense to get them through up until this point, they have also counted on the brilliance of Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Santos on the attack. He is having a terrific start to the season by all accounts. He is their leading scorer with two goals. But more than that he is the centrepiece of their midfield and has impressed with his hawk vision, crisp touch and sumptuous passe. He is a threat whenever he is on the ball and coach Yuri Puntus will no doubt continue putting his faith on him to make the right decisions.

RUKH BREST

Rukh Brest have had a mixed bag of results. They won away at Dinamo Minsk to kick off their season, before losing their next two games and drawing at Slavia ahead of a crucial game at home to FC Minsk last weekend which they comfortably won 1-0. After flirting with the drop zone momentarily, this last win against a struggling FC Minsk pushed them up to 11th place on the table on 7 points.

Just like their hosts, Aleksandr Sednyov’s boys have also been rock solid at the back even in the midst of the disappointing losses. The two losses on their loss column were both by a single goal. Their main undoing, however, has been the lack of production on the offensive end. They have only scored 2 goals in their 5 games, which is far from ideal. If they are to get any positive result, then they will need to get their forwards going. 22-year-old midfielder Pavel Sedko opened his goal account tally when he scored the all-important winner at the start of the second half against Minsk last weekend for only their second goal of the season. He will be hoping that was the first of many and the team will quite frankly need more if they are to make any impression not only against their hosts but also for the season as a whole.

Possible Line Ups

TORPEDO BELAZ ZHODINO VS RUKH BREST BETTING TIPS AND PREDICTIONS

As much as both teams have had solid defences to write home about at this stage of the season, they haven’t quite been prolific on the attacking end. In their combined 10 games, they both scored just 6 goals in total. All the 10 games have had under 2.5 goals. On this basis, we expect the trend to continue and we are backing Goal Under 2.5 @ 1.40 for our first betting tip for the game.

Torpedo Belaz Zhodino have looked quite good particularly at home where they have won both of their games this season. They did well away from home against contenders BATE last weekend to earn a draw and we anticipate that result will give them a lot of morale coming into this game. Bwin betting app’s price of 2.60 for Torpedo to win to nil looks like terrific value and we are going with it for our final betting tip for the game.