Ural Yekaterinburg v Anzhi Makhachkala Betting Tip

Two of the league’s mid-table sides go head-to-head on Saturday with both knowing that a win could see them rise significantly up the table whilst defeat could leave fans biting their nails.

Ural looked very impressive in their first match of the season against Ufa and former head coach Viktor Goncharenko followed up by a decent draw away at Rostov, however, since then it has all gone a bit downhill and they have lost three out of four since then.

After not scoring for three consecutive games, Ural have managed to once again locate their shooting boots but, unfortunately for them, it is at the other end of the pitch where they are now struggling and they have now conceded in every match since that 0-0 draw away in Rostov.

Vadim Skripchenko’s side are undoubtedly more comfortable at home and will see this match against Anzhi as an opportunity to pick up a long-awaited win.

Former Czech Republic coach Pavel Vrba must be incredibly frustrated with his Anzhi side. Vrba is a coach who was renowned for playing attacking football back in his homeland of the Czech Republic but his current side lack a goalscorer to finish any chances off – as shown in their last two matches where they have failed to find the back of the net.

The Dagestani side have actually been relatively stable at the other end of the pitch with just five goals conceded in their six games so far. Goalkeeper Aleksandr Belenov has made a great start to the campaign and is probably the division’s most in-form keeper right now.

This is certainly an intriguing match-up and quite difficult to call. Ural are the favourites here being at home along with Anzhi’s inconsistency. However, I would edge slightly towards Vrba’s side here.

They have had a draw and a loss in their last two fixtures so surely they are now due a win? Additionally, having not won since opening day I think Ural will be massively short on confidence.

The bet I would advise here is ‘Anzhi Draw no Bet’ at 8/5 which at least gets your money back if Ural managed to sneak a point on Saturday whilst it also offers a good price on the Anzhi win – quite rare in this market.

See all of Saturday’s Russian Premier League tips here.