BATE will be aiming to keep the pressure on the sides above them when they welcome Neman to the Borisov Arena in the Belarusian Premier League on Sunday.

Last season's runners-up have recovered from a slow start to move into fourth place, two points above 10th-placed opponents Neman.

Match preview

After missing out on top spot last season for the first time in 14 years, BATE made the worst possible start to 2020 with back-to-back defeats to Energetik-BGU and Slavia Mozyr.

Kirill Alshevsky's men appear to have turned a corner over the past month, however, thanks to three wins and a draw in their last four league outings.

BATE have not conceded a single goal during that four-match unbeaten streak, which includes a 2-0 win over Gorodeya last time out to move into fourth place.

Early pacesetters Slutsk are three points better off heading into the seventh round of fixtures after an impressive start, but Alshevsky will be happy with recent improvements.

The hosts head into this match on the back of a straightforward win over Slavia in the domestic cup on Wednesday, too - another victory without conceding a goal.

Incredibly, though, BATE do not boast the best defensive record in the division. In fact, Neman hold claim to having an even tighter defence, conceding just four times in 2020.

Like their opponents, Neman have kept out the opposition in four of their six matches, while scoring six times at the other end.

Three of those goals came against Energetik in their most recent match, with Pavel Zabelin scoring a second-half brace last Friday.

Igor Kovalevich will now be hoping that his side can build on that 3-0 victory and improve on their current position of 10th, which is where they ended the 2019 campaign.

Neman have lost four and drawn one of their last five away league matches, however, and it is just one win in 10 on their travels when going further back.

BATE have only lost one of their last 15 home league matches, meanwhile, although they were held 0-0 by Torpedo-BelAZ last time out on home soil.

BATE league form: WLWDWW
BATE form (all competitions): LLWWDW

Neman league form: LWDDLW

Head To Head

BATE beat Neman 1-0 in their most recent encounter six months ago through a first-half own goal from Aleksey Legchilin.

Indeed, the 15-time Belarusian champions are unbeaten in their last 16 meetings with Neman in all competitions since March 2014, winning 14 of those games.

We say: BATE 1-0 Neman

This is a clash between two of the defensively-strongest teams in the division. However, BATE are three points better off than Neman and have dominated this fixture down the years, so we are backing the hosts to come out on top.