Russia vs Egypt
Egypt need to win now if they want to extend their World Cup 2018 fairytale. Fortunately, Mo Salah—the same man who fired them to their first appearance in the tournament since 1990—is set to return and gives the nation hope in their quest for World Cup glory.
Russia, of course, won’t be a walk in the park. Not on their home turf where they have beaten Saudi Arabia in dominating fashion.
All the Russians need is one more win to assure their place in the Round of 16, and they will certainly play with the same motivation as the Egyptians who are fighting for survival.
Game on!
Talking Points
If there’s one man who can change the fortunes of Egypt, it’s Salah. The talismanic Egyptian striker took the football world by storm as he led Liverpool to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League and to the final in the Champions League.
He scored 32 goals in the English top flight and another 10 in the UCL, putting himself in the conversation of Europe’s most elite strikers alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Salah’s magic also translated to the African qualifiers for Egypt, with the 26-year-old hitman scoring a brace in the penultimate game against Congo to book Egypt’s return ticket to the big dance after 28 years.
An untimely injury in the Champions League final kept Salah sidelined in the build-up to the competition. He eventually ended up as an unused substitute in their opener against Uruguay—a game which saw the Egyptians fell 0-1 after a late header from Jose Gimenez.
However, after missing the opening game, Salah is now scheduled to return against Russia as the Pharaohs aim to get their first World Cup win. According to the latest World Cup 2018 news, Salah is deemed fit to play against the hosts.
“He was fit to play against Uruguay but the coach did not want to take the risk,” the Egyptian Football Association reported via Liverpool FC.
Sure enough, Salah’s return will spark Egypt’s offence that lacked dynamism in the game against Uruguay.
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Despite the Liverpool striker’s impending return, however, Egypt cannot take it lightly against a Russian team savouring the opportunity of playing in front of tens of thousands of fans.
Stanislav Cherchesov’s men obliterated a plainly terrible Saudi Arabia side 5-0, with man-of-the-match Denis Cheryshev bagging two goals and Aleksandr Golovin scoring one and recording two assists.
Put simply, Russia know the environment and atmosphere well more than anybody else, and they know for a fact that they have the whole country cheering for them wherever they go.
Both Russia and Egypt—with Salah back in the fold—have the offensive acumen to make this game at Saint-Petersburg Stadium a thrilling affair. With that said, their defence might be the deciding factor in the match-up.
While Egypt did well to limit Uruguay to just one goal, it should be noted that they have already conceded eight goals in their last seven matches. Meanwhile, Russia yielded 11 markers in their past six outings, including three goals each from Spain, Brazil and France.
History
With the two nations meeting for the first time ever, we can only look at their recent form to determine which nation have the advantage.
Egypt are still winless since qualifying for the World Cup. In seven games since November 2017, they managed just three draws and four defeats, including a 0-3 defeat to a highly fancied Belgium squad.
They did play out a goalless draw against Colombia earlier this month, but that was after they drew 1-1 with Kuwait in a game they were expected to win comfortably.
Meanwhile, Russia broke their six-game slump with that win over the Saudis. Moreover, their thrashing of the West Asian side is the second biggest victory ever in the opening match of a World Cup tournament, only behind Italy’s 7-1 triumph over the USA in 1934.
It’s also worth noting that the five goals they scored in the game are twice more than the goals they accumulated across three games in the 2014 version of the event.
What are the odds?
Considering Russia’s latest performance, it’s no wonder why the World Cup 2018 betting odds favour them to take all three points.
Russia are predicted to win at 1X2 @ 2.25 while Egypt are a little behind at 1X2 @ 3.35. A draw is also a likely result, though it is still the Russians who are tipped to have the advantage given their Draw No Bet odds at 1.56.
If you are expecting goals, then you could be in for a treat in the game. Over 1.75 goals pays at 1.62, suggesting that at least two goals could be scored in the match-up. Well, at least according to SBOBET football odds.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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