Russia is playing some inspired football right now, as they have blown their first two opponents out of the water. Their toughest test to date will come this Monday against Uruguay who are looking to get solo lead in the group as well. Will the Russians stay unbeaten? Or will Uruguay dirty the host’s ledger?
They may not have played up to snuff, but Uruguay still got the job done in their opener in Russia with a 1-0 win over Mo Salah and Egypt followed by a 1-0 triumph at the expense of minnows Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Uruguay had plenty of trouble getting past through Saud Arabia’s defense, as Luis Suarez and company managed to launch four shots on target out of their total of 13 shot attempts. Suarez had six shots and with going on target and one finding the back of the net for his first goal in Russia. Uruguay will have to do better the next time around, though, not only because they clearly have the better offensive weapons than Russia, but also due to the fact that they’re going to play at Cosmos Arena mostly by Russians. It’s important for Uruguay to score the first goal in this match to avoid making the crowd a much even bigger factor in the contest.
Betting on Russia (+199)
Russia showed they’re not just in the World Cup to savor the free pass they got to enter the tournament when they took down Saudi Arabia in the opener with a convincing 5-0 win. Of course, beating a lowly team like Saudi Arabia does not mean that the Russians are now a super power in the sport, but then again, they downed Egypt next, 3-1. They have now outscored their opponents 8-1 thus far. Regardless of their opponents’ issues and weaknesses, the Russians are proving they could score and defend at the same time. Denis Cheryshev is turning into a national hero as he now has three goals in the tournament. He’s going to be marked man so Russia will have to ask for others to step up and take away some of the attention opponents will put on the midfielder moving forward.
