England vs Russia on paper would have been an intruguing battle 4 years ago with Russia featuring a number of star players in their prime back then like former Arsenal midfielder and one time record signing andrei arshavin, Chelsea left back Yuri Zhirkov and CSKA moscow midfielder Alan dzagoev in the team and former Spurs striker Roman pavluchenko made his name in the tournament back in 2008 which prompted spurs to snap him up. 4 years down the line its the england team that has young lions knocking on the euro door to confirming their start status on the world stage in france.
This game is probably the most interesting of the lot considering the formations both teams like to play in. Leonid Slutsky the russian coach prefers to play a 4-2-3-1 formation and roy hodgson has a selection problem in fitting Jamy Vardy , Harry Kane and Captain Wayne rooney all in the same team. While rooney can play anywhere across midfield or in the front 3 : Kane and Vardy are target men. It will be interesting to see whether roy hodgson plays 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond with Eric dier in front of the back four and rooney at the other end of the diamond. Diamond formation served them well back in march against world champios germany whom they beat 3-2 but this formation may not work as well against the russians who will look to over power england in the midfield by employing 2 defensive midfielders and 3 attacking midfielders in front of them. Employing a diamond will mean eric dier alone may not be able to shackle Russia's Aleksandr golovin and Denis Glushakov. On the other hand 4-3-3 with Eric dier playing in front of the back four and wilshere and rooney playing either side of him will give the team some much needed energy in midfield and England can hold their own and rooney and wilshere can be the creative outlets of the team. With vardy as the target man , id play kane and deli alli slightly off him which will give england 5 men in midfield but a 4-3-3 in attack.
Russia on the other hand has its weaknesses and will dearly miss the injured Alan Dzagoev and Yuri Zhirkov. Ageing center backs gnashevich and Berezutski are a worry for the russians as its almost certain they will flip flop against the pacey Vardy and kane who have lit up the premiership this season. The only obstacle england have to overcome is Igor Akinfeev the CSKA moscow captain who is the only truly classy player russia can boast of in their ranks. England therefore are clear favorites and this time i dont think the pressure is on the England team as they are no longer the golden generation nor the favorites which will allow them to perform better outside the media spotlight. Introduction of the pacey 18 year old manchester united striker Markus rashford at some stage of the game could mean further trouble for russia considering the ease with which rashford beat Martin demichelis the 35 year old manchester city center back in the premier league this season. Raheem sterling will certainly play some part who is equally trickier to handle for russia. As long as hodgson doesnt take rash decisions by playing Liverpool captain jordon henderson making it a 2 man defensive midfield and sacrificing a creative player england should easily win the game!
Prediction England 3-Russia 1
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