Dinamo Minsk against Hearts: The weak team has a strange start

Dinamo won the Belarusian Premier League last season for the first time since 2004 and is on course to defend its title again.

They are currently three points behind leaders Neman Grodno but have won four of their last five games with three games remaining.

This one defeat against Vitebsk is the only defeat in 20 league games as the domestic season started back in March.

However, they have struggled in recent games played outside Minsk, losing their last four – including a 2-1 defeat to Gibraltar side Lincoln Red Imps in Europa League qualifying, despite losing that tie on aggregate won 3-2.

Defense has been Dinamo’s strength this season. They have conceded just 15 goals in their 28 games, with centre-backs Denis Polyakov and Sergei Politevich both being experienced Belarusian internationals.

Goalkeeper Fedor Lapoukhov also recently joined the national team, as did right-back Vadim Pigas.

On the other hand, Brazilian left-back Rai Lopes relies on getting forward and shooting dangerous balls.

Minsk caused major problems for both Bulgarian side Ludogorets and Belgian club Anderlecht, experienced teams at this level, in qualifying, losing only 1-2 and 0-2 on aggregate, respectively.

Especially against Anderlecht, they missed several good chances to score and had more attempts than their opponents in the home game, but scoring was a problem.

Although main striker Steven Alfred provides a strong presence up front, he has only scored two goals in 12 appearances this season and Minsk relies more on goals from their wingers, who sometimes operate as inside forwards.

Winger Ivan Bakhar scored the winner against Ludogorets and Dmitri Podstrelov and Raymond Adeola are also key figures.

But given that Hearts have only scored four goals in ten games this season, this tie is likely to be low on points and a close one.