The host country will have its team go up against Saudi Arabia in the first match of the 2018 World Cup. Will Russia, who is priced at just +5000 to take it all, make their nation proud? Or will Saudi Arabia kick off their campaign with a bang?
The Russians are playing in their home soil against a relatively weaker side in the form of Saudi Arabia. Russia will have to feed all the energy they can from the crowd, as they can’t afford to drop this match if they have any plans of getting out of Group A. They have some talent up front to cause trouble to a team like Saudi Arabia, but Russia also needs to take care of their own goal, which they have not really done quite well over their past several matches. In fact, they have gone winless in all of their past six matches, over which they have been outscored by opponents 4-12. In their most recent outing, Russia drew with Turkey in a friendly match, 1-1. Goalie Igor Akinfeev definitely has to be better.
Betting on Saudi Arabia (+105 Price)
Not much is expected of Saudi Arabia in the World Cup, but if there’s a team among their scheduled opponents that they could possibly beat, it’s got to be Russia. The Green Falcons are not littered with recognizable names with most of their players coming from clubs in their domestic league, but the gap between them and Russia does not seem to be that big. This match is for anyone to win. Saudi Arabia know they are not against Uruguay, the favorite in the group, here, so expect them to play more relaxed and with less pressure but of course with a sense of urgency. Saudi Arabia have lost their last three matches, but do know that in their last match, they lost to defending champions Germany to a close score of 2-1. Mohammad Al-Sahlawi led the team with 16 goals in the qualifiers,and he’ll be looking to find the back of the net against the seemingly lousy Russian defense.
Writer’s Prediction
Saudi Arabia wins, 2-1 (and sh*t goes down in Moscow)
