RUS vs SAU Dream11 Team Prediction, Team News, Lineups

RUS vs SAU Dream11 Team Prediction, Fantasy Team News, Playing 11
Russia vs Saudi Arabia, Group A, FIFA World Cup 2018 opening match

FIFA World Cup 2018

RUS vs SAU Dream11 MATCH PREVIEW:

The wait for four years is over finally as the host nation Russia will play against Saudi Arabia in the first group match to flag off the FIFA World Cup 2018, but the match will be played after the FIFA World Cup 2018 opening ceremony. It has been a sad journey for the Russians since their appearance in 1990 as Soviet Union after that they failed to qualify for the World Cup in the last 28 years, however, they are fortunate to be handed the opportunity of hosting the World Cup so that they can play in the World Cup, reaching the Round of 16 would be their dream. Even their President, Vladimir Putin said that he would want Cristiano Ronaldo to win the World Cup, which is also farfetched expectation if the statistics are to be believed.

The Russians are in a five match winless streak before they head to the World Cup and have also dropped to the 70^th place in FIFA Rankings. Their last victory came against South Korea in October 2017. Despite things are out of control of Stanislav Cherchesov, he would want to leave a lasting impact in the World Cup after all they are the home team and  their whole nation would expect them to do better than to be eliminated in the group stage. Russia would want to win this game at any cost to have a fighting chance in Group A where they will also have to face Uruguay and Egypt.

On the other hand we have Saudi Arabia who is also making a World Cup appearance after 12 years have their personal best of reaching the Round of 16 in their first World Cup appearance.  Moreover, the unsettlement of the coaches of their national team just before the start of the World Cup is also a very big concern for the Green Falcons. They will play under Juan Antonio Pizzi who was previously managing Chile but Chile failed to qualify in the FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia.

Previously both these countries met in 1993, when Saudi Arabia tore apart the Russians by a score of 4-2 goals. But the home team is expected to change things around for them under the leadership of Igor Akinfeev who will be making his 106^th appearance for his country in this game with their 38 year old defender Sergei Ignashevich who would be making his 122^nd appearance in this game.

The opening match will be played at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow at 11:00 AM Local time.

RUS vs SAU Dream11 Team match preview is listed here.  RUS vs SAU Dream11 Predictions are listed here in this match, RUS vs SAU Dream11 Playing 11 is listed here. Scotland vs MEXICO, team news, playing XI and match preview are listed here.

MATCH DETAILS:
When: June 14, 8:30 PM, IST
Where:Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Capacity: 81,000

Recent wins (Last six matches)
Russia – L L L L L D
Saudi Arabia – D L W L L L

RUS vs BEL Dream11 TEAM NEWS: Injury and Suspension
Russia vs Saudi Arabia injuries and suspensions:

Russia: Sergei Ignashevich is expected to get a starting berth in this game in the heart of defense despite his age while Mario Fernandes and Igor Smolnikov compete with each other for the spot of right back in this opening game. Russia is most likely to play a formation of 4-1-4-1, which would help them to concrete their midfield and defense given the absence of two centre backs. Alexsandr Golovin is believed to partner with Alan Dzagoev in the midfield as they play off against the Arabians. Russia would want to field a strong lineup in this game since they know the importance of the match points of this game. The 22 year old Aleksandr Golovin is expected to get a starting berth in this game. Former Chelsea FC defender Zhirkov is also expected to feature in this game. Vladimir Granat and Ilya Kutepov are also expected to hold the line of defense for the Russians. Aleksandr Kokorin misses out the World Cup because of an injury. Dmitri Kombarov and Viktor Vasin will both miss because of their injuries.

Saudi Arabia: Nawaf Al-Abed’s absence will sure be felt by the Green Falcons in the world cup but they would want to make the most of their counter attacks as they have been very good at it. They will look up to the likes of Salem Al- Dawsario and Fahad Al-Mullawad for their counter attacks. It remains to see who finally gets the nod between Mohammed Al-Sahlawi and Muhammad Asiri. Fahad Al-Muwallad and Al Shehri are also expected to get a nod in this game.

RUS vs SAU Dream11 Playing 11 – (Probable)

Russia – Ankinfeev (GK), Zhirkov, Ignashevich, Kutepov, Fernandes, Zobnin, Kuzyaev, Golovin, Dzagoev, Samedov, Smolov

Saudi Arabia – Al Mosailem (GK), Al Harbi, Om. Hawasawi, Os Hawasawi, Al Shahrani, Al Jassim, Otayf, Al Dawasari, Al Shehri, Al Muwallad, Al Sahlawi

Head 2 Head- 01 meetings in official matches
Russia – 01
Saudi Arabia – 00
Draw – 00

Key Players:
Russia – Dzagoev, Golovin, Smolov
Saudi Arabia –  Al Sahlawi, Al Mullawad

Take a look at some statistics:

1. Saudi Arabia will be the first team from the Asian Football Confederation to play the opening match at a FIFA World Cup.
2. Ranked 70^th in the FIFA World Rankings Russia are the lowest ranked team at the FIFA World Cup.
3. Saudi Arabia is ranked three spots ahead of them in 67^thspot as the second lowest ranked team at the World Cup.
4. Russia and Saudi Arabia have faced each other only once in history. The Green Falcons beat the Sbornaya 4-2 at a friendly in 1993.
5. Russia is still without a win (D1 L3) in four games in 2018.

Important Live Updates:

Both the teams have a full 23-man squad to choose from with no player suffering from any untimely or training injury. We will update if anything pops up

Russia – For the host nation in this match, it’s all about midfield. They do have far more experienced and talented men to play in the middle of the park with the likes of Alan Dzagoev, Alexander Golovin, and Alexander Samedov are expected to start in this game, whilst Fyodor Smolov is their best man forward.

Saudi Arabia – For Saudi Arabia Al-Abed, Fahad Al-Muwallad and Al-Shehri will definitely feature in this game. Abed scored five times in the qualification stages, while Al-Muwallad pocketed the most important goal for his country which secured his nation’s participation in Russia. Also, at just 27 years, Al-Shehri remains the most experienced player in Saudi Arabia team, having played for his country since 2009.

Juan Antonio Pizzi continuously rotated between  Mohammad Al Sahlawi, Muhannad Assiri during the warm-up games. There’s no certainty who will get the nod up front for the away side.

Winning formula for this match – Russia haven’t won a World Cup match in the last 16 years while it is 24 years for Saudi Arabia since they won their last match in the World Cup finals. We are backing the hosts to snap their stuttering form here, and expect them to win this game.

The best combination you can go for is to maximize the number of Russian players in your squad, keeping visitors’ to a meager number. Akinfeev could be your Goal-Keeper while in defending department, again more Russian players, while a combination of both the countries in the middle of the park may be your best shot.

RUS vs SAU Dream11 FANTASY TEAM:

INDIA FANTASY PREDICTION:

There’s a significant amount of pressure on the hosts to emerge from what at the time seemed like a dream draw but could yet turn out to be a nightmare if they can’t find a way past Saudi Arabia and Egypt.There is certainly no reason for the AFC qualifiers to fear this Russia side, who have made little to no progress from a disappointing showing at Euro 2016, but they will look to keep things tight nonetheless. The Russian attack lacks fluidity and as such this is likely to be an underwhelming opener to the tournament, with very little to separate these sides as things stand.

NOTE: THIS RUS vs SAU Dream11 MATCH PREVIEW IS BASED ON OUR RESEARCH AND UNDERSTANDING FROM VARIOUS NEWS SOURCES. YOU CAN SELECT YOUR OWN PLAYING 11 ON THE BASIS OF TEAM NEWS.

RUS vs SAU Dream11 Team match preview is listed here.  RUS vs SAU Dream11 Predictions are listed here in this match, RUS vs SAU Dream11 Playing 11 is listed here. Scotland vs MEXICO, team news, playing XI and match preview are listed here.

Disclaimer-

THIS RUS VS SAU MATCH PREVIEW IS BASED ON OUR RESEARCH AND UNDERSTANDING FROM VARIOUS NEWS SOURCES. YOU CAN SELECT YOUR OWN PLAYING 11 ON THE BASIS OF TEAM NEWS AND ALL THE OTHER INFORMATION REQUIRED FROM THIS WEBSITE. USING OUR TEAMS IN ANY CONTEST WILL INCREASE THE PROBABILITY OF HAVING THE SAME EXACT TEAM WITH OTHER USERS CAN LEAD TO THE WINNINGS SPLIT.