World Cup 2018 - Last 16
Sunday 1st July 2018
Kick off at 3pm BST
Venue: Luzhniki Arena
Match Preview:
Spain will have the task to dump the hosts out of the World Cup and there is no doubt that they will start as favourites to do so. The 2010 champions found their tika taka form once again before the tournament but if the group stages are anything to go by there will be question marks over Fernando Hierro’s side.
Though Spain won their group they made heavy weather doing it. Being pegged back twice to end up drawing 3-3 with Portugal in their opening game. They then could only beat Iran 1-0 and had to come back against Morocco where they drew 2-2. The Spanish have shown only flashes of their past brilliance and have looked vulnerable in defence.
Russia knew that their knock out opponents would realistically be either Spain or Portugal and it is, on the face of it, a really tough draw for the hosts. Russia were very impressive in their two opening matches scoring 8 goals. They then made wholesale changes to the team knowing they had qualified and duly lost 3-0 to Uruguay.
Russia remains a real threat to Spain even if they don’t have the same quality, and it is true to think that the host nation will attack from the beginning of the match. This clearly is not the strongest Spanish side of the last decade.
Spain vs Russia Team News:
Spain: No major injury problems to report
Russia: Alan Dzagoev is out through injury, whilst Igor Smolnikov is suspended.
Spain vs Russia Head to Head:
The nations played last year in a friendly which ended 3-3.
The last competitive match was at Euro 2008 where Spain ran out 3-0 winners.
Spain vs Russia Prediction:
Spain vs Russia Betting Tips:
Both teams to score at 2.20
Over 2.5 goals at 2.20
Anytime goalscorer: Denis Cheryshev at 6.00
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