Smolevichi welcome Dinamo Minsk to the Ozyorny Stadium on Friday, aiming to get off the mark with their first victory since returning to the Belarusian Premier League.

Like their newly-promoted opponents, Dinamo have also made a slow start to the 2020 campaign and are down in 11th place after five matches.

Match preview

A last-gasp penalty from Evgeni Barsukov rescued Smolevichi a point away at Belshina in their most recent outing, making it three draws and two defeats so far.

Aleksandr Brazevich's men finished runners-up in the second tier last season to return to the top flight after a one-season absence, but it looks as though they face a battle in trying to stay up.

They already find themselves 15th in the 16-team league, only kept off the foot of the table by Belshina, the other side to earn promotion from the second tier last term.

There are some positives for Brazevich to take from his side's results over the past month, though, as they have yet to concede more than once in a single game.

However, they have also failed to register more than one goal in any of their five fixtures to date, finding the net just four times in total.

That is something seven-time champions Dinamo will be looking to capitalise on when they travel to the Ozyorny Stadium, where their opponents are winless in seven matches stretching over their past two seasons at this level.

Leonid Kuchuk's side finished 15 points off a Europa League qualifying spot last season and started 2020 with back-to-back losses against Brest and neighbours Minsk.

That derby defeat to Minsk would have been particularly tough to take, but results have improved slightly since then, with wins over Torpedo-BelAZ and Neman, either side of another loss to Gorodeya.

The 2-0 win over Neman in their most recent match will no doubt have provided Dinamo with a welcome morale boost, though - the victory on home soil earned through goals from Miha Goropevsek and Yevgeniy Shikavka.

Dinamo have only finished outside the top three twice since 2007, but they are already four points adrift of the European spots and cannot afford to slip up against lowly Smolevichi.

Smolevichi's form: DLLDD

Dinamo Minsk form: LLWLW

Head To Head

Dinamo won both meetings when the sides last faced off in the 2018 campaign, each by a 2-0 scoreline.

Their most recent encounter prior to that came in the Belarusian Cup, with Dinamo prevailing 7-2 on aggregate in the second-round clash.

We say: Smolevichi 0-1 Dinamo Minsk

Dinamo have won two of their last three matches to climb up the table, whereas Smolevichi are still yet to pick up their first victory. The hosts tend to be involved in low-scoring games and we expect this match to go the same way, with Dinamo edging it.