Shakhtyor Soligorsk vs. Isloch Betting Preview – Belarusian Premier League, May 3

Shakhtyor crashed out of the cup in the week so will be able to fully concentrate on its league for from now on, and that’s probably a good idea considering the way the campaign has started for the Soligorsk club.

Of the two, Isloch has begun this year far more brightly and has taken advantage of the bigger boys’ stuttering starts to put together a string of good results. This could end up being a very good game to round off the weekend.          

My Shakhtyor Soligorsk vs. Isloch prediction and betting pick are below.

Traditionally, Shakhtyor would be the big favorite to win this fixture, and that is how BetOnline has priced the game. But it is Isloch that has looked the better of the two so far, in my opinion. That means that the odds for a draw or an away win would seem to be the value bets here.

As Shakhtyor mounted an improbable comeback against Dynamo Brest in the cup on Wednesday, it looked like the team that qualified for the Europa League last year had returned for the first time this season. Those four goals in 16 minutes made that game an exhilarating watch and also reminded many why Shakhtyor was so highly rated in the first place.

But the majority of this season has been a huge disappointment. Just five goals in six games — and only two wins in that time — has left Shakhtyor nearer the bottom of the table and dropping points to supposedly inferior opposition. Could that change now that the distraction of the cup is out of the way?

Isloch is probably not the team to face next if Shakhtyor boss Yuriy Vernydub hopes that to be the case. The small club from Minsk has been one of the standout successes so far in Belarus and is on course to record its best-ever league campaign. Whether it can keep up with the larger clubs remains to be seen, but it has been nothing but good news so far.

The 2-0 win over Vitebsk last weekend kept Isloch just a point off the top and sustained the belief that it can go anywhere and give anyone a good game. The better teams in the league have tended to be able to put Isloch in its place, but Shakhtyor might be another that falls to this well-drilled side.

Although I was impressed with how Shakhtyor belatedly fought back against Dynamo Brest in the cup on Wednesday, the fact that it put itself in that position in the first place is why I’m not sure everything will change overnight for the Soligorsk side. Isloch has possibly overachieved so far, but given the results of the two teams here, I think that the odds for an away win look very good.