Dinamo Minsk v Anderlecht

Dinamo Minsk vs Anderlecht Preview

Dinamo Minsk will be relieved to be returning to the more familiar surroundings of their Stadyen Dynama following last week's 2-1 defeat away from home at Gibraltan outfit Lincoln Red Imps, while Anderlecht may not be too fazed that they have to take to the road again for this 1st leg clash of this Europa League play-off tie after the Belgian visitors recorded an impressive 3-1 win away from home at Mechelen in the domestic top flight on the weekend.

Dinamo Minsk had participated in the earlier qualifying rounds of the Champions League where the Belarus outfit had registered a 1-0 win on aggregate against Armenian side Pyunik, but a 2-1 loss in the following qualifying round to Bulgarian side Ludogorets resulted in Thursday's hosts to drop down into the Europa League.

A narrow 3-2 win on aggregate against Gibraltar outfit Lincoln Red Imps has set up this play-off clash with Belgian giants, Anderlecht, but the hosts will be mindful that they need to produce a result here in this 1st leg tie at their Stadyen Dynama having lost their last two European games away from home on the trot.

To further emphasise this, Dinamo Minsk are unbeaten in their previous 18 home games at their Stadyen Dynama which includes collecting no fewer than 14 wins in the process but Vadim Skripchenko's side have managed to capture just three wins in their last seven home ties in the Europa League.

Anderlecht bring a useful looking six-match unbeaten sequence into this upcoming 1st leg tie at the Stadyen Dynama which includes victories gained in the Belgian First Division A over the likes of Sint-Truiden, Antwerp and Mechelen in 1-0, 2-1 and 3-1 wins respectively, so the visitors will be in confident mood for Thursday's clash.

The bigger picture shows Anderlecht have been handed three defeats in their last 16 matches in all competitions whilst also collecting 10 wins in the process which is expected to place the visitors in a healthy position in this forthcoming 1st leg tie in Belarus.

In addition, Anderlecht have picked up four wins in their last five outings on the road which they'll be hoping can give them the necessary momentum in order to gain a lead for the return leg next week, while goals may also feature in this 1st leg tie as no fewer than eight out of Anderlecht's last 10 outings on the road have also resulted in Over 2.5 goals being scored.

Dinamo Minsk v Anderlecht Verdict

Dinamo Minsk know they their best chance of making it into the group stage of this competition is to gain a win here at the Stadyen Dynama but they'll be up against the greater quality of Anderlecht who are expected to come out on top.

Therefore, our main bet will be Over 2.5 goals @ 1.72

Other side bets worth considering:

Anderlecht win & Over 2.5 goals @ 2.10

Correct Score: Anderlecht 3-1 @ 12.00