Kopetdag vs. Merw Betting Preview – Yokary Liga, May 8

Kopetdag looks to get its title challenge back on track after back-to-back defeats have ruined the impressive start the capital city club made to the season.

This week’s visitors, Merw, who picked up only its second win of the new campaign last weekend, will be hoping that it can keep up that kind of form to cause what would be an upset against Kopetdag.

You can find my Kopetdag vs. Merw prediction below.

MyBookie makes Kopetdag the clear favorite to win this fixture, and that makes sense, considering the relative statures of the two clubs and the home side’s position in the league. Home field advantage will also play a large part in the outcome here, but Merw might be confident of being able to cause an upset after its win at the weekend.

Although Kopetdag may be one of Turkmenistan’s most successful clubs — and arguably the most well-supported — there has not been a lot to celebrate over the last few years as Altyn Asyr has become dominant in the Yokary Liga. That looked as if it might change this season as both Kopetdag and Ahal looked well placed to compete.

Kopetdag has been tested by the top two recently and was able to pick up a point against Altyn Asyr before losing to Ahal. Any good work was ruined by the defeat at the hands of Sagadam last weekend, however. A healthy win is needed now against Merw to get things back on track.

The home side will be expected to take the points here, but Merw is coming into this one in the unfamiliar position of having just won a game. That made it two out of the six fixtures this season, equaling its total for the entire 2019 campaign.

Whether that gives the Merw players the confidence it needs to surprise Kopetdag on Friday remains to be seen, but a positive result could see it leapfrog Kopetdag in the table. Kopetdag’s defense has been its saving grace this season, though, so an away win or even a draw is a tough ask.

Drawing with the reigning champions looked like a huge statement to the rest of the Yokary Liga that Kopetdag was ready to compete this year. Even the narrow defeat at the hands of Ahal was not a disaster. But losing to Sagadam was a major disappointment, and Kopetdag needs to win here and not allow the top two to create a points gap even at this early stage of the season. That should be achievable against Merw, but it might not be quite as easy as it would have seemed a couple of weeks ago.

You can find more predictions and picks for multiple sports and leagues here.