Russia tread a very thin line heading into their match against Slovakia, with off-the-field incidents continuing to mar the Bears’ campaign.
UEFA have handed down a suspended disqualification, meaning that Russia will be disqualified from the Championships should there be any more in stadium violence amongst Russian supporters. The sanction follows on from the incidents between fans after Leonid Slutsky’s side struck late to secure a point against England in Marseille. A stoppage time goal from defender Vasili Berezutski cancelled out Eric Dier’s goal and keeps Russia within striking distance of the second round.
Slovakia meanwhile are looking to turn around their fortunes, after going down 2-1 to a Gareth Bale-led side in Bordeaux. A loss here for Slovakia would leave them dangerously close to ending their stay in France early and Ján Kozák’s men would want to get their campaign back on track with a win over Russia.
Key Battle – Artem Dzyuba vs Martin Škrtel
Neither player got off to a great start in France, with Dzyuba failing to mark his mark up front against England and Škrtel being extremely lucky not to be sent off after committing a number of dangerous fouls in the game against Wales.
Škrtel enters the game sitting on a yellow card already, having received one late in the previous match, and another yellow card would see the Slovakian captain miss their final group match against England in Saint-Étienne. This could play into Dzyuba’s thinking as we could see the striker attempt to draw Skrtel into compromising tackles in the hopes he receives a yellow card or worse.
Dzyuba himself also has a large part to play for the Russians. As their leading goalscorer in qualification with 8 goals, the Zenit Saint Petersburg man needs to get himself on the board in France quickly if they are to extend their stay. But should he be unable to get past Skrtel and the rest of the Slovakian defence, Russia could find themselves with a huge uphill task to make it out of the group.
Team News
Both sides will still retain the full use of their entire squad, with backup goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin (back injury) the only doubtful player for the Russians. Russia manager Leonid Slutsky will most likely run with an unchanged lineup to the team that grabbed a point against England, with the only possible change coming in the form of Dmitri Kombarov starting over Georgi Schennikov, due to Schennikov’s yellow card he received against England.
Slovakia will also likely run a mostly unchanged lineup, with manager Ján Kozák potentially giving a start to goalscorer Ondrej Duda in the place of striker Michal Ďuriš. However, with the amount of players on yellow cards risking suspension, Kozák may wish to leave players like Vladimir Weiss and Patrik Hrošovský on the bench in order to use them as impact substitutions.
Predicted XIs
Head-To-Head
These two sides have met on eight occasions before, with Russia holding a slim lead over Slovakia with 3 wins to the Bears and only two to the Falcons. Russia have won the last two fixtures against Slovakia, with the Falcons last recording a win against Russia in 2010 during the qualification process for the 2012 European Championships.
Previous Meeting
It was Russia who got the bragging rights when last these two played, taking a slim 1-0 win in Saint Petersburg. In what was a friendly match that started Russia’s preparation for the 2014 World Cup in Brasil, neither side managed to find the back of the net for the opening 82 minutes, before Alexander Kerzhakov slotted home a header set up by Maxim Kanunnikov.
Prediction
Anything less than a win for Slovakia will spell real danger for them, while Russia may be able to get away with another draw. With Russia’s defensive worries, Slovakia could run riot against them, yet if Russia could withstand the pressure of England there is no reason to see why they could not do it against an arguably weaker side. This game could very well be decided by a single moment of magic on the part of either side.
Russia 1 Slovakia 1
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