Algeria v Russia World Cup 2014, 26th June Betting Preview
Well, Algeria put in one of the displays of the tournament as they exploded into life taking a 4-2 win over South Korea. Now they are in the driving seat to make progress through to the knockout stages, needing just a point against Russia to progress. Can they hang on and make progress against all the odds having been the group outsiders?
Algeria v Russia Betting Tips
This is the second meeting between the two nations, the previous encounter having ended in a 2-2 friendly international draw. Algeria have only won one of their seven World Cup games against European opposition and this would be a massive result if they could pick up their second. They snapped a run of seven winless World Cup matches with a powerful win over South Korea in their second group game. They have a huge support and they played with a real belief that was missing in their opening 2-1 defeat against Belgium. Algeria are in form though having won five of their last matches played now.
So can they get what they need out of this one? It is only natural to expect them to go back into their shell a little bit to try and play out a draw. Ahead of the World Cup, they took great experience against European opposition in beating Slovenia, Armenia and Romania, so they may have something about them, and the underdogs will have the support behind them here against the Russians.
Russia sit in a precarious position. Unless they take a win here, they will be out, so boss Fabio Capello will be sweating. They were much more enterprising against Belgium in their 1-0 defeat, but again, most of their opportunities came on the break, not looking likely to really push the game in any other manner. Russia have won their two previous matches against African sides at the world Cup, scoring eight goals and conceding one goal in those two matches. The Russians have now only kept one clean sheet in their eight World Cup matches since the start of the 1994 tournament, so they do seem to have a problem in stepping up to this stage.
You would expect this one to be pretty tight through the first half, and eight of the last nine goals conceded by Russia in the World Cup have come after half time. The last eight World Cup goals conceded by Algeria have also been after the break. So a Draw/Russia Half Time/Full Time wager may tempt punters to see the favourites edge through at some realistic value at odds of 4/1.
Algeria v Russia Betting Odds
Russia 11/10, Draw 5/2, Algeria 5/2
It could be a game where some 0-0 Bore Draw coverage will come in handy, so head on over to Bet365 and grab the insurance on the Correct Score, Scores and Half Time/Full Time markets. There is also unlimited places on each way first goalscorer bets at the World Cup, as well as insurance on the tournament outright winner market if your in-play bet on the market loses on penalties.
Algeria v Russia Predictions
Tough game to call now after Algeria’s huge adventure and positive play in their game against South Korea. If they do that, they will have a good chance against Russia, who aren’t very adventurous at all. There is a decent chance of this one ending up as a draw.
