Russia – Lithuania

Otkrytiye Arena in Moscow will be the host of the International Friendly match between Russia and Lithuania, with the Russians seen as 1.25 odds favorites by the bookmakers.

Russia has not played a match since losing 1-3 at home to Croatia, back in November last year. It was the first defeat for the Russians with Leonid Slutsky at the helm, after they previously won all 5 matches with Slutsky in charge. Since he took over from Fabio Capello the team looked pretty good, achieving direct qualification for Euro 2016 in a difficult group with Austria and Sweden. Russia seem to have zero chances of achieving a Top 2 position before Capello was sacked, but the managerial change had a really positive impact.

Lithuania played a friendly in Romania a few days ago, an unspectacular 0-1 defeat in which neither side showed much football. It was another miserable performance for Lithuania, a team that recorded 9 losses, 2 draws and 1 win (vs San Marino) in the last 12 matches. The Baltic side failed to score in 8 of those 9 defeats and in 7 of their last 8 away games – actually, they banged in just 6 goals in 10 matches in the Euro 2016 qualifying group. Lithuania’s goal scoring stats could hardly be worse.

Bet on Russia vs Lithuania and get your 75 Eur first deposit free bet at Jetbull now!

Team news: Russia will likely use relatively heavy rotation ahead of a more important clash against France next week. Lithuania will probably also make a few changes to the lineup that lost in Romania, but not too many.

For Russia the big test will be on Tuesday, when they travel to Paris for a blockbuster showdown with France. This is more of a preparation match ahead of the France match, so don`t expect the Russians to try too much. Also, they will probably give some of the usual bench players a chance to start.

For Lithuania, this match seems to be a perfect copy to the one they had against Romania. They will play again against a superior team that has very good defensive stats and a team that has a much more important match coming up – for Romania it was Spain, for Russia it will be France. I expect the similarities to be visible on the pitch as well.

I can see a boring clash, with Lithuania posing little offensive threat and Russia passing the ball around with patience. Even without playing at 100%, Russia should still find the net at least once here. They are also unlikely to be troubled at the back by a Lithuanian team that has zero attacking power. My tip is Russia to win to nil. Prediction: Russia – Lithuania 2-0.

Pick: Russia wins to nil
Odds: 1.67 @ Ladbrokes
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 4.69
Event date: 26 March