After two years of reaching the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, Dinamo Minsk has lost in both of the previous two seasons to Serbia’s Vojvodina and Cyprus’ AEK Larnaca. Their task will be even more difficult this time around, as Dinamo’s opponent is one of the best teams to enter the competition – Zenit. St. Petersburg.
Dinamo Minsk – Zenit St. Petersburg Preview
Zenit finished all the way down in fifth place in Russia’s Premier League in 2017/18. They have declined somewhat over the past couple of seasons, as this is their third consecutive year in the Europa League following five years of participation in the Champions League group stage. Last season, Zenit Saint Petersburg exited the competition in the Round of 16, losing to German high-riser RB Leipzig.
Bet on Dinamo Minsk vs Zenit St. Petersburg with bet365
The pre-season has been encouraging for new head coach Sergei Semak, who took over from Roberto Mancini when the latter was fired at the end of last season. Semak became Zenit’s assistant coach right after retirement and was the interim coach for ten days before Andre Villas-Boas replaced Luciano Spalletti in 2014. Wins over Saalfelden, Dynamo Moscow, Grasshoppers and Genoa were followed by a 3-3 draw with Inter, and then two wins against newly-promoted Yenisey and Arsenal Tula in the opening two rounds of the new campaign.
Dinamo Minsk will be far from an easy adversary for the Russian side. They had to battle past Ireland’s Derry City in the first Europa League qualifying round (2-0; 1-2), but then took care of business versus Slovakia’s Dunajska Streda (3-1; 4-1), demolishing BGATU Minsk 7-0 in Belarus’ Super Cup in between the two ties. Serbian international Uros Nikolic is Dinamo Minsk’s best player. Filipp Ivanov, Roman Begunov and Aleksandr Makas are the team’s other main threats.
Dinamo Minsk – Zenit St. Petersburg live stream
This promises to be an intriguing affair. It kicks off at 19:00 CET/GMT+2 in Minsk’s Tractor Stadium. You can watch a live online stream if you are a registered member of bet365, the leading betting company which provides live sports coverage of over 70.000 events all year long.
Dinamo Minsk – Zenit St. Petersburg Bet365 Odds
Dinamo Minsk – Zenit St. Petersburg Prediction
Zenit St. Petersburg have looked good under Semak and should be the ones to progress from the tie when is all set and done. However, the first match in Belarus will be an opportunity for Dinamo Minsk to show they are not that far behind their Russian counterpart. A close contest is to be anticipated.