Betting Tip
The stadium in Mezokovesd was not a lucky venue for ML at first — the reigning Belarusian champions lost there to Universitatea Craiova three weeks ago at the start of Champions League qualifying (1:4). But the first game against Sutjeska was entirely dictated by Sokolinskiy's team. The Vitebsk side led by two goals by the 37th minute, failed to convert several dangerous 3-on-1 and 2-on-1 breaks early in the second half, and then Diabate, with his second touch after coming off the bench, set the final score. ML's dominance over Sutjeska is not reflected at all by the statistics: by those numbers, the match should have been even (13-15 on shots).
The Montenegrin champions looked far more cohesive defensively in Champions League qualifying against Kairat Almaty. Although the Almaty side won on both occasions (1:2 and 0:2), Sutjeska did not collapse for entire spells. Perhaps Pekovic's team deliberately opened up while trying to create chances at the other end, but Pavlyuchenko was almost always untroubled in his own goal, while Gomanov and Volkov dealt intelligently with clearances and second balls after aerial duels.
Sutjeska still seem not to have got into the season. The team from Niksic have conceded 2+ goals in every official match — the same was true in their final friendly against Sarajevo (1:2). ML have developed a taste for winning — the favourites in the tie cannot be stopped now, so we are backing the Geese to win.
