Spain vs Russia FIFA World Cup 2018 – Lineups, Predictions & Stats Preview 1 July 2018

The 2010 World Cup winners Spain face hosts Russia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow for a place in the quarter finals. Spain sealed first place in their group after a draw with Morocco, while a heavy defeat to Uruguay saw Russia finish in second place behind the South Americans.

Spain Probable Lineups and Stats

Spain’s final group match was a faltering performance requiring a late goal to grab a point and secure top spot in the group. The equaliser was scored by substitute Iago Aspas, though he will likely start on the bench again for the last 16 match against Russia. Probable line up: De Gea – Carvajal, Alba, Ramos, Pique – Busquets, Iniesta, Silva, Isco, Vazquez – Costa.

Spain will look to their passing game to unlock the Russian side. In the tournament so far Spain lead the stats on passing with 2089 completed passes, with Sergio Ramos the top player for completed passes with 309. This has led to Spain also being the most attacking team so far with 197 attacks. Pass accuracy dipped against Morocco to 84% from an average 91% in the previous two games. Striker Diego Costa has three goals so far and will look to Isco, Iniesta and Silva to create chances for him against Russia. Discipline has been good for Spain with just the single yellow card issued to Busquets.

Russia Probable Lineups and Stats

After their flying start with two good wins, the Russians came down to earth with a bit of a bump in losing against a strong Uruguayan side. Big striker Dzyuba has become the focal point of the team. Without the pool of talent available to Spain options to change are limited and the probable line-up will be: Akinfeev – Fernandes, Kutepov, Ignashevich, Zhirkov – Gazinski, Zobnin, Golovin, Cheryshev, Samedov – Dzyuba.

Russia can be direct in their play and even in their two wins, their match possession has averaged at 42%. Pass accuracy is in the late 70% region. Against Uruguay, they only managed three attempts on goal as opposed to 13 and 11 in their previous games. Top scorer is the impressive Denis Cheryshev who plays his club football in Spain with 3 goals.

Russia have collected four yellow cards to date and have no suspensions for the game against Spain, a game in which they will need to maintain shape and discipline to contain the Spanish forward line.

Spain v Russia – Head to Head

Russia may take heart from their 3-3 draw in a friendly with Spain last November, a game in which Russia impressed, Prior to that, they met Spain in the semi-final of the Euro championships of 2008, where Spain won 3-0. While Spain won the World Cup for the first time in their history in 2010 this is the first time Russia have advanced to the knock-out rounds since the Soviet Union era.

Expert Tip

After Russia’s heavy defeat against Uruguay, now it’s time to face an even stronger rival in the face of Spain. We will stick with the bookies’ opinion on who the favourite for this game is and tip for a win for Spain. Given the performances Spain has put so far we expect Russia to put a goal past David de Gea. Over 3.5 cards and Under 9.5 corners also appear to be good options for bettors.

Interesting Facts and Information

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