Russia’s fans have been more threatening than their team’s attack to begin Euro 2016. But despite a feeble performance, the Russians still managed to grab a crucial point in the dying seconds against England. They will have to improve significantly in their second group game against Slovakia, which also disappointed in its opening match loss to Wales.
By all accounts, Russia was outplayed by England in its opening group game. As many expected, the makeshift Russian midfield – composed of newly-minted Russian citizen Roman Neustadter and 20-year-old Aleksandr Golovin – was very ineffective. None of their talented attacking players made enough of an impact either.
Thankfully, their most experienced players – goalie Igor Akinfeev, along with central defenders Sergei Ignashevich and Vasili Berezutski – held strong in defense. And in stoppage time, Berezutski came through with an equalizer to snatch a 1-1 draw.
Because of the massive shakeup in midfield, it was a bit understandable for the Russians to play very cautiously against group favorites England, who posed the biggest attacking threat in the group. But they should be much more positive and aggressive this time around against a less intimidating Slovakia side.
Manager Leonid Slutsky has limited options which he can call upon to improve the midfield, but he has more than enough attacking talent at his disposal to win. Lone striker Artyom Dzyuba, in particular, should have the physicality to mix it up with Slovakia’s burly central defenders. Dzyuba led the team with eight goals during qualifying.
Meanwhile, the Russian defense which more than held its own against England should be able to contain a Slovakia team that possesses few offensive weapons outside of star man Marek Hamsik.
Betting on Slovakia
In terms of talent, Slovakia and Wales were probably the most comparable in the group. However, the Slovaks failed to play up to their ability as they fell to a 2-1 defeat.
Slovakia is much better than that opening performance suggests. This is, after all, a team that handed European champs Spain its only loss in qualifying, as well as one that recently scored a 3-1 victory over reigning world champions Germany in their final pre-tournament warm-up game.
The Slovaks still have every chance of making it out of the group with a win against Russia, and they certainly have the tools needed to get such a result. A handful of Slovakia’s players have played club football in Russia, so they know what they’ll be up against.
Slovakia’s key men will be midfielders Juraj Kucka and Marek Hamsik. After watching Russia’s disjointed midfield struggle against England, it’s not hard to see Kucka (a powerful, physical presence who plays for Italian giants AC Milan) and Hamsik (Slovakia’s best player against England) imposing their will in that part of the pitch.
Manager Jan Kozak can also call on the talented 21-year-old Ondrej Duda to be a difference maker off the bench, or even in the starting XI. Duda scored almost immediately upon coming on as a substitute against Wales.
Writer’s Prediction
It’ll be a very tight contest, but Slovakia (+195) just manages to eke out a 1-0 win.
