Dynamo Brest vs. Rukh Brest Betting Preview – Belarusian Premier League, October 18, 2020

The Belarusian Premier League leaves the Brest derby until last this weekend and Dynamo and Rukh come together with plenty to play for.

Rukh has only recently formally cut ties with the bigger club and there has been a very good rivalry this season as they have both been in the top flight for the first time in Belarusian soccer history.

The much bigger club is thought to be the favorite for Sunday’s clash by MyBookie but there is no doubt that this will be a close game between two evenly matched sides. With the way Rukh has played this season, this one could go either way. So the draw bet odds look fairly good value to me at first glance.

There would not have been many thinking it would be Dynamo that would be looking up the table at its city rivals at this point of the season before a ball was kicked this year. But the league champions have found it very hard to replicate the excellent form of 2019. It does have two games in hand on a lot of the teams above it though, so there is still a good chance of breaking into the top three.

That’s because there have been some very good results in the last few league games, with victories over Dinamo Minsk and Energetik-BGU followed by a fantastic 4-2 win away at league leaders BATE last time out. If that form can be repeated, Dynamo should easily take the points here. But Rukh will not make it easy for its big city neighbors.

Rukh Brest has enjoyed a very good run of form of its own over the last few months, with just two defeats in its last 13 league games. The tendency to grind out low-scoring draws has also disappeared as the confidence has grown. The defense is still very strong but there have been more goals scored down the other end.

In fact, Rukh Brest has only scored fewer than three goals twice in the last six games in all competitions. The most recent goal hauls have come against Slutsk and Smolevichi in the league and Chimik Svetlogorsk in the cup. Although the squad is thinner than its opponents on Sunday, it will feel as though it has a good chance of coming away with at least a point.

When Rukh lost to Dynamo earlier in the season the 4-1 scoreline highlighted the gulf in resources between the two clubs and ended what had become the smaller side’s almost weekly routine of defending for a 0-0 draw. Both clubs have improved since then but although Rukh leads the way in the league at the moment, I think that this will be one game that Dynamo is really up for.