Belarus Premier League Odds & Picks Matchday 4

• Soccer continues in Belarus with a full weekend scheduled for Week 4
• It’s first vs fourth as Torpedo BelAZ host league leader Energetik-BGU
• We give you a full schedule of odds and preview three of the top games below

While the rest of the soccer world is in virtual lockdown, the good folk of Belarus continues to plow a lone furrow. Theirs is the only top-level league in world soccer that has, so far, managed to play through the global coronavirus pandemic, and this weekend it’s Matchday 4.

We’ll look at three of the top games, preview them, look for some good odds and offer a few picks.

Belarus Premier League Matchday 4 Odds

All odds taken April 9.

Pick 1: Neman Grodno vs Belshina Bobruisk

Neman and Belshina kick things off on Friday night at the Stadyen Nyoman, with the visitors still looking for their first point of the season. For Neman, it’s a case of pushing on from a solid if unspectacular start to the campaign.

After a losing start to the season, Grodno managed to get their first win in Week 2 with a 2-0  home win over Vitebsk, and followed this up with a 0-0 draw on the road at Shakhtyor Soligorsk. They head into this one confident of picking up win number two while also looking for their third clean sheet on the spin.

Worth noting too is that Neman’s recent home form, going back to last season, is four wins from six with just one defeat, with the trend being low-scoring games.

Belshina meanwhile has had a terrible start to the season, losing their first three games and scoring just a single goal in the process. Defeats by FC Minsk, Torpedo BelAZ and Gorodeya have left them on the bottom of the table and after winning promotion from the Belarussian First League (the second tier) last season, this is far from the start they had hoped for.

With Neman still in positive money (+110), the value here is very much with the home team. While I’m not expecting a high-scoring game, a narrow win for Neman looks the smart bet.

Pick: Neman to win (+110)

Pick 2: Dinamo Brest vs Isloch

While this may look like little more than a mid-table clash, this one promises to be entertaining, if not necessarily for the right reasons. In March, the pair met in a two-legged cup quarterfinal – one that was eventually won 5-3 by Dinamo on penalties after two goalless draws – but both games were notable for the number of red and yellow cards that were dished out.

In the first leg alone there were four reds, two for each team, and 12 yellows, meaning there will be an interesting undercurrent to this one – one that could ultimately lead to a more open game. I’m not expecting this one to end goalless.

Of the two, it’s Isloch who has made the better start to the season and after two wins and one defeat, they sit in sixth place. Brest, for their part, has had one win, one draw, one defeat and are in 10th.

Dinamo’s home record at home to Isloch is quite a good one and includes a 3-1 win in 2018 and an even more impressive 5-1 victory last season, but their three meetings since (home and away) have all been drawn.

But this is not a vintage Brest team and Isloch are above them in the table for a reason. While there’s a strong argument here for a scoring draw – 1-1 or 2-2 – the fact that the visitors are nearly 4/1 for the win is too good to ignore.

My pick: Isloch to win (+399)

Pick 3: Torpedo BelAZ vs Energetik-BGU

Torpedo started the season with two straight wins – a 1-0 win at Shakhtyor and a 1-0 home win over Belshina – but came unstuck last weekend when they disappointingly lost 2-0 at Dinamo Minsk.

BelAZ have a fine record at home in Zhodino, however, and are undefeated in nine of their last 11 home league games. This is, therefore, on paper at least, Energetik’s toughest test of the season so far.

Right now, Energetik sits atop of the league after three straight wins, starting with that fine 3-1 victory over the mighty BATE Borisov on opening day. Buoyed by that unexpected win, they followed it up with a1-0 at Ruh Brest and kept the momentum going last weekend with another impressive 2-0 home win over FC Minsk.

It’s a fine run of form that, in fact, extends back to last season and they’ve now won six of their last seven and are undefeated in 10 of their last 11 in the league.

So, two in-form teams going toe-to-toe, with Torpedo narrow favorites in the eyes of the bookies. But, for me, while it’s not inconceivable that the Students could continue their winning run, for me, with two evenly matched teams, the value is very much with the draw.

Pick: Torpedo and Energetik to draw (+238)