Russia VS Brazil Match Prediction
- 2018-03-23
- 16:00:00
Brazil will win this match.
In five chances to date, Russia have yet to collect a victory over the mightly Brazilians. However, they have grabbed two draws- including one back in the most recent clash in 2013.
%HEAD-TO-HEAD-STATS-BANNER%Bet365 have the following odds available for this match:
Russia are at 19/4 to win, a draw is at 11/4, and a Brazil win is at 3/5.
As hosts, Russia did not have to go through the traditional qualification method, and thus they are still trying to prepare for the World Cup. A lot of times, the lack of qualification matches actually hurts a team, as it forces them to play friendlies. When there isn't anything to play for, it can be tough to motivate players and see where they stand in comparison to one another, and it is tough to get the most out of an opponent as they could be rotating as well. As for Brazil, they were impervious in qualification. They easily won CONMEBOL with 41 points from 18 fixtures, winning out by ten points in the end. In fact, heading into the last match day, they were the only side guaranteed to go to Russia. They lost just once in that entire long slog of a campaign.
In the past year, Russia have played 12 times. They have just four wins in that time to go along with four draws and four losses. They are winless in their last three matches, but to be fair, two of them were against top sides Spain and Argentina. As for Brazil, they have lost just once in the past year. In the other matches, they have six wins and three draws. They have not lost since last June, a run of seven without defeat, and they have faced the likes of Australia, Bolivia, and England away in that span.
Both teams to register a goal is at evens via Ladbrokes.
Russia are far from bad, and they have been holding their own of late. However, holding your own isn't always good enough when you face Brazil. The visitors will come to Moscow and walk out with a hard-fought victory.
The last time Russia played a very strong side was back in November when they hosted another tournament favorite in Spain. On that night, striker Fedor Smolov scored two big goals to help earn an impressive battling draw. His first goal got them back in the game after going two down, and his second goal leveled the game at three all. He now has 11 goals in 28 caps, and he will be huge for them going forward.
Russia have two draws, a loss, and two wins in their last five matches:
3-3 home draw vs Spain (Friendly)
0-1 home loss vs Argentina (Friendly)
1-1 home draw vs Iran (Friendly)
4-2 home win vs South Korea (Friendly)
3-0 home win vs Dynamo Moscow (Friendly)
Tite will be bringing many of the players he has already promised a spot in the summer to for this match. The one man that has not been included that was on the list is the injured Neymar. It will be very interesting to see how they handle replacing him and his position in the side. One option is Roberto Firmino, while Douglas Costa is another choice that could be made. Also out with injuries are defenders Alex Sandro and Filipe Luis, while defenders Jemerson and David Luiz have simply been left out.
With Neymar out of the lineup, and his status unknown for the summer, there will be a lot of people eager to find out how the Selecao will work in his absence. They need a better plan than what they showed at home four years ago, and they seem much better equipped with the likes of Philippe Coutinho now. The Barcelona man could even get to move to his preferred left wing spot, which could only increase his level of influence.
Brazil have three draws and two wins in their last five matches:
0-0 draw at England (Friendly)
1-3 win at Japan (Friendly)
3-0 home win vs Chile
0-0 draw at Bolivia
1-1 draw at Colombia