AsianHandicap.com, UK
June 23 2007
Intertoto Cup Preview
FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk vs FC Ararat Erevan
Below par:
Shakhtyor, the Belarusian team, as much as they have been invincible
at home last season, have suffered something of a hangover this
season as they struggled to emulate the kind of form that propelled
them to a 4th place finish in 2006. Shakhtyor won 9, drew 2 and lost
2 last year as they ranked the 2nd best home team in Belarus behind
League winners BATE Borisov. This season however sees them like 6th
on the table, and won just 1 from 4 home matches.
Poor form:
Not only that, they have won just 2 games from their last 7 matches
in the Belarusian Premier League. Apart from their wins against
mid-table Smorgon and relegation strugglers Dnepr Mogilev, Shakhtyor
have performed poorly in the other 5 games, drawing against FC Minsk
and MTZ RIPO Minsk and losing to the likes of Dinamo Minsk and Neman
Grodno. To their credit, they did put up a fight against the
defending champions BATE Borisov, narrowly losing 3-4.
Ararat on the up:
Now Ararat, the team from Armenia, are in a different form. They
finished a disappointing 4th last season, a staggering 24 points
behind eventual winners Pyunik Yereven, but this season they have
surpassed all expectations to be involved in the race at the top.
Last year, they lost 6 from 13 away games… based solely on that,
you would back Shakhtyor today hands down. But Ararat is now a team
transformed. They have won 7, drawn 1 and lost 2 from their 10 games
domestically. What is more impressive is the fact that they have won
their last 5 matches in the League, scoring a total of 11 goals.
Guess how many they have conceded… NONE. I am therefore backing
them to get the better of an underperforming Shakhtyor.
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