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After escaping a potential ban due to the actions of its fans, Russia will hope to build on the 1-1 draw against England and achieve qualification to the KO round with a win over Slovakia.
Russia was very, very lucky to claim a draw against England. The Russians, which have arguably their weakest squad in the last decade, had to deal with a flurry of injuries as well and looked well beaten even before the match started. Indeed, it looked that way on the pitch, with England utterly dominant, missing a fair number of big chances before finally scoring late on via a free kick. Russia did not seem to have the strength to even challenge for the draw in the final minutes, but somehow they got a break and a Berezutski header in injury time saved the day.
Slovakia got the short end of the stick as they lost an evenly matched clash against Wales in the first round, an 1-2 defeat due to a late Robson-Kanu strike. Granted, Wales was a bit better in that match, at least tactically, but Slovakia will feel they could have claimed a draw. The Slovakians had an excellent qualifying campaign for Euro 2016, finishing second behind Spain and in front of Ukraine, but they really must step up in this match against Russia. Another decent performance might not be enough for Slovakia to stand a chance at qualifying – they pretty much need the three points here.
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Team news & lineups:
Russia continues to struggle big time with injuries. Key players like Denisov, Dzagoev, Cheryshev, Dzagoev, Kuzmin or Zhirkov are out or have not been called up due to injuries. There are also doubts over a few other guys. Russia should field the same lineup that snatched a point against England. Meanwhile, Slovakia continues to sweat over the fitness of Gyomber and Hubocan.
Russia: Akinfeev – Smolnikov, Berezutski, Ignashevich, Schennikov – Neustädter – Shatov, Golovin – Kokorin, Dzyuba, Smolov
Slovakia: Kozacik – Pekarik, Skrtel, Durica, Svento – Kucka, Hrosovsky – Mak, Hamsik, Weiss – Nemec
Russia was rather poor in the first match and that was according to expectations. The Russians have been decimated by injuries ahead of this tournament and their squad wasn`t that great to start with. They were on the brink of failing to qualify for this tournament before Leonid Slutsky took over. Right now, the Russians are looking very shaky at the back, as they miss a number of key players in that zone and that showed against England, where they could have easily conceded 2-3 goals until half time.
Slovakia is in a difficult position after losing 2-1 against Wales and the pretty much need to go for it here. Three points will likely be needed to advance from the third position and Slovakia surely doesn`t want to enter the last round against England needing a win. Russia is an accessible opponent, some might say that the Russians are the most vulnerable team in this group, so I expect Slovakia to play reasonably offensive here. They took part in an entertaining match against a very pragmatic Wales side, so this should be even more open.
With the above in mind, I will bet on goals in this match. The Russian defense can not be trusted and Slovakia needs to win. Russia might be satisfied with a draw but they don`t have the defense to play for a 0-0 or 1-0, while Slovakia pretty much has to score and claim the three points. I can see a relatively open game, especially in the later stages. My tip will be both teams to score. Prediction: Russia – Slovakia 1-1.
Pick: Both to score
Odds: 2.05 @ 10Bet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 7.35
Event date: 15 June
