Rukh Brest head into the derby showdown with Dinamo Brest having put together a seven-match unbeaten streak in the Belarusian top flight.

Meanwhile, after suffering back-to-back defeats, Dinamo sit one point adrift of their neighbours in ninth place.

Match preview

There was a time not so long ago when Rukh relied on their partnership with Dinamo to make their way up the Belarusian pyramid, only ending that agreement when they reached the second tier in 2019.

However, yet another promotion showed that the former amateur club did not require their more illustrious foes for further success, and they head into Sunday's historic occasion sitting above them in the table.

While it is only by the solitary point, it represents a potential changing of the guard in the city, despite Dinamo winning the 2019 league title and narrowly missing out on the cup last weekend.

Although they have only lost twice in their opening 10 matches, Rukh boss Aleksandr Sednyov will be disappointed that his team do not sit higher than seventh spot in the standings.

Last weekend's draw with Slutsk was their fifth in seven matches and they remain with one of the poorest attacks in the division, highlighting that they are relying heavily on a backline which has only conceded six goals in 10 games.

With Dinamo possessing 13 goals in both of their for and against columns, there is a feeling that something has to give on what is a standout evening in Rukh's short history.

From Dinamo's perspective, there is an argument that the game has come at exactly the right time as they bid to right the wrongs of losing in such fashion to BATE.

Conceding in the 120th minute condemned Sergey Kovalchuk's side to a heartbreaking defeat, and their boss must now attempt to find a way to get the club back up the league standings.

Having not finished in the top three since 1992, there can be no argument that Dinamo's title triumph came as a huge surprise, and already sitting nine points off the pace ensures that they are under significant pressure this weekend.

Not only do they want to avoid losing further ground to Rukh, a sixth defeat in 11 league games will risk their title defence ending in a damp squib throughout the remainder of the campaign.

Rukh Brest form: WDDWDD

Dinamo Brest form: LWWLLL

Head To Head

Given the rapidness of Rukh's progression up the league pyramid, these two teams have only met on one previous occasion.

That came in the cup last July, with Dinamo prevailing by a 1-0 scoreline in front of 5,600 fans, a considerably high number in comparison to league fixtures.

We say: Rukh Brest 1-1 Dinamo Brest

While we see Rukh as the marginal favourites for this contest, we cannot back them to gain more than a share of the spoils. Taking Dinamo's recent opposition into consideration, we feel that the visitors will hold their rivals to a sixth draw of the campaign.