England kick off their assault on Euro 2016 with a date with Russia; and they will be dearly hoping to start their campaign with three points from a match they are expected to win comfortably.
Despite their position as a global superpower Russia haven’t quite transcended such dominance onto the football field, but an impressive enough qualifying campaign (in which they finished higher than Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden) will give them confidence that they can cause a huge upset in Marseille on Saturday evening.
Match Betting
As punters we can only look to the recent friendlies as a guide towards the respective form of these two sides, and with England bagging three wins from three we have to hand them the advantage. They’ve beaten those sides who are on a par – if not better – than Russia in Turkey, Australia and Portugal, and so they fully deserve their position as bookmakers’ favourites for this one.
There are question marks still about Roy Hodgson’s side: where does Wayne Rooney fit into proceedings? How can he get Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane into the same team effectively? Will Danny Rose do something catastrophic in defence, as he tends to look likely to do? But the key to the first group match is to get the win on the board irrespective of the quality of performance.
A look at this Russia squad reveals some talented individuals, but this isn’t a side that should cause England too many problems offensively. Okay, so Artem Dzyuba is a handful who bagged plenty of goals in qualifying, but his right-hand man – creative talisman Alan Dzagoev – is missing the tournament through injury and that should prove calamitous to the Russians’ hopes of progressing past the round of 16 phase.
The vast majority of Russia’s side play their domestic football in their homeland, and with no disrespect meant (particularly if you’re reading this, Vladimir Putin) that is hardly a ringing endorsement of their quality; despite Zenit St Petersburg’s progress in the Champions League.
So expect this to be a typically English major tournament performance: scrappy, desperate at times but just doing enough to get the win. Available at a generous 10/11 with bet365, they are a must back.
Other Bets
If there is one thing that England don’t struggle with it is scoring goals. They have only failed to net once in their last 12 matches; and that could prove disastrous for a Russia side that has conceded a total of ten goals in their last five outings. With an in-form Kane on the prowl and Vardy and Dele Alli equally keen to make an impression on their first major tournament appearance, the Three Lions should be able to breach the Russian defence. So back England to score two or more goals at 6/5 with Coral.
We’re always liable to get involved with Harry Kane in the First Goalscorer stakes; the powerful frontman notched more than 30 goals in all competition for Spurs last season and two in his last four for England. He is a guaranteed starter up front for his side, so the 4/1 on offer from William Hill is too tempting to ignore.
