Our football match prediction:
Uruguay
Match Time & Date:
25/06/2018
15:00 GMT
Prediction: 1-1
Russia
A place in top position in group A will be at stake when Uruguay and Russia face each other at Samara Arena. Uruguay booked their place in the last 16 thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia, with Luis Suarez opening his goal-scoring account. The Barcelona attacker aims to keep on scoring and all eyes will be on him when Uruguay and Russia face each other in Monday’s football match. Stanislav Cherchesov’s troops have been playing above expectations at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals, with the team rolling over the likes of Egypt and Saudi Arabia and, no doubt, they are brimming with confidence ahead of the group A derby. The two teams seem to be evenly matched at the moment and we predict that they are going to play out a draw at Samara Arena in their final group game.
Highlighted Player (Diego Godin):
Diego Godin is considered one of the best defenders in the history of Uruguayan football. The Atletico Madrid centre back played for Cerro and Nacional in the Uruguayan national championship between 2003 and 2007 and in August, 2017 he signed a deal with La Liga side Villarreal. Godin made 91 league appearances for the Yellow Submarine and on 4 August he made probably the best decision of his career as he signed a contract with Atletico Madrid. The Uruguayan defender won the 2013/2014 La Liga trophy with los Rojiblancos, while making it to the Champions League final on two occasions (2014, 2016). He won the Europa League trophy in the 2011/2012 season with Atletico Madrid as well. Speaking of his international career, Godin clinched the 2011 Copa America trophy with Uruguay. Despite playing as a centre back, Diego Godin often scores after set pieces and you should have in mind that he scored eight goals for Diego Simeone’s team in the 2013/2014 season (all competitions).
Highlighted Team (Russia):
While they won the 1960 European Championship, while losing in the final in 1964, 1972 and 1988 as Soviet Union, Russia have enjoyed little success since starting to compete as an independent country in 1992. Their best result up to date is the third-placed finish at the Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, while the team failed to get past the group stage at the World Cup finals in three attempts. However, with Russian Premier League getting stronger by the day, the national team have started to improve as well, and they now finally seem capable of matching the world’s top sides. The new generation includes high-quality footballers such as Alan Dzagoev, Aleksandr Kokorin, Artyom Dzyuba and Oleg Shatov, while the likes of Igor Akinfeev, Sergei Ignashevich, Roman Shirokov and Yuri Zhirkov are nearing the closing stages of their careers. But, with plenty of exciting talent coming through the ranks, future definitely looks bright for the Russia national team.
