URUGUAY v RUSSIA
Monday 25th June 2018 – Kickoff; 1500hrs
Football – World – World Cup Betting Tips
Welcome to my World Cup 2018 betting tips, and staying with Group A with the top two teams, Uruguay and Russia, facing each other in Samara on Monday afternoon for the right to top the group and potentially earn a more favourable opponent in the round of 16.
Uruguay opened their account in these World Cup finals with a 1-0 win over an Egyptian outfit that were missing their star player, Mo Salah, but nonetheless, Uruguay made hard work of putting the Pharoahs away as they were wasteful in front of goal with striker Luis Suarez missing a few golden opportunities.
Fellow forward, Edinson Cavani, was denied by the post as well as a top class save by Egyptian keeper, El Shenawy, as Uruguay probed to break the deadlock. Whilst Egypt offered very little in terms of meaningful goalscoring chances, captain Godin was a rock in defence and marshalled the back line in excellent fashion.
Uruguay eventually took the lead through Jose Gimenez to seal the points, which was followed by another three points on match day two when they overcame a spirited Saudi Arabia side, again by a 1-0 margin thanks to Suarez who took advantage of a goalkeeping error. Much will depend on the finishing of the Uruguayan front pair of Suarez and Cavani when they take on host nation Russia in what is sure to be a cauldron of noise.
Onto Russia, and not even their most ardent of fans could have predicted the 5-0 onslaught against Saudi Arabia in the curtain raiser, as the Russians ran amok and exploited the Saudi’s inconsistent and naive defending.
With prime minister Putin in attendance, it was a commanding performance from the host nation with the likes of Cheryshev and Golovin catching the eye as they tore into the Saudi Arabian defences on numerous occasions.
Russia continued their momentum into match day two when they saw off Egypt 3-1 despite the Egyptians recalling Salah from injury, but although the Liverpool forward scored from the penalty spot, he drifted in and out of a match that was dominated by the more efficient and stronger Russian side.
Cheryshev, Golovin and striker Dzyuba linked up well, while forward runs by wing-back Fernandes proved to be a constant threat as Egypt never looked like taking control.
However, there’s only so much that a host nation’s support can do for momentum, and the superior firepower of the Uruguayans could be the difference between the two teams here.
My betting tips system indicates backing Uruguay with the draw no bet option.
Pick: Uruguay AH0 @ 1.89 Marathonbet
