Russia – Cyprus : Preview & Prediction
Russia and Cyprus meet at Saint Petersburg Stadium, in a match for the Qualifiers for the World Cup – Europe (Group Stage). The history of recent direct clashes is favorable to the home team, which has 3 wins in the last 3 matches. In this match, the home factor may play an important role, as Cyprus has significant differences in the results achieved at home and as a visitor.
After 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, the home team is currently in the 1 st position, with 19 points won. In the last match, they won by (1‑2) in an away match against Slovenia, after having won by (1‑0) at home against Slovakia in the previous match. This is a team little affected by the home factor, that is, they have similar results at home and away, since in the last 30 matches they register 9 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses in away matches, with 31 goals scored and 19 conceded, against 9 wins , 3 draws and 3 defeats at home, with 28 goals scored and 13 conceded. In the last 4 home matches in the World Cup Qualifiers – Europe, Russia have won 3 and drawn 1.
In this competition, they have won their last 4 matches and haven’t lost any of the last 4 they played at their stadium. Their offense has scored consistently, as they have managed to score in 7 of the last 8 matches for this competition. This is a team that often scores first: they opened the scoreboard in 6 of their last 8 games for the World Cup – Europe qualifiers, of these 6 they reached halftime ahead of all and managed to keep the advantage until the end of the game. . In the last 11 home matches for all competitions there is 1 period that stands out: they have scored 5 of their 13 goals between minutes (76’‑90′).
The Russian team comes for this game with a victory, by 1-2, in the trip to Slovenia, thus adding the fourth consecutive victory in this qualifying phase for the World Cup 2022: the team’s goals were scored by Igor Diveev and Georgiy Dzhikiya. In this game against Cyprus, coach Valeriy Karpin should keep the team in 4-3-3 privileging the maintenance of ball possession and paused attacks, however, in some moments of the game he should only act on the counterattack. Artem Dzyuba is this team’s top scorer with 3 goals scored in this qualifying. All players are available for this game.
The away team is currently in the 6th place, with 5 points won, after 1 win, 2 draws and 5 losses. In the penultimate match, they lost at home to Croatia by (0‑3). In the last match, they tied at home against Malta, by (2‑2). This is a team that usually depends on the home factor, which is stronger when they play with the support of their supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 2 wins, 2 draws and 11 losses in away matches, with a total of 10 goals scored and 30 conceded. At home, they won 3 wins, 3 draws and 9 defeats, with a total of 13 goals scored and 25 conceded. In the last 10 away matches Cyprus has tied 1 and lost 9. Defensive consistency hasn’t been their best feature, as they’ve conceded goals in 6 of the last 8 matches, and their attack hasn’t been very good, as they haven’t scored any goals in 6 of the last 8 matches for this competition. This is a team that rarely scores first: they only opened the scoreboard in 2 of their last 8 matches for the World Cup – Europe qualifiers, of these 2 they reached half-time ahead of all and won at the end of the 90′ in 1 In 8 matches for this competition, they have conceded the first goal 5 times and have never been able to turn the score around.
Cyprus enters this match after a 2×2 draw against Malta, putting an end to the four consecutive setbacks in this qualifying phase for the 2022 World Cup: Pieros Sotiriou and Fotis Papoulis scored the team’s goals. Coach Nikolaos Kostenoglou should keep the team in 3-4-3 with Fotis Papoulis, Loizos Loizou and Pieros Sotiriou being the most offensive references: the last player mentioned is very fast and competent at the time of submission. It should be noted that Cypriots have several failures in maintaining ball possession and defensive organization. All players are available for this game.
Russia – Cyprus : Betting Tips
Russia – Win Odds: 1.25
Both teams to score / YES – Odds: 1.70
Over 2.5 Goals – Odds: 1.70
