World Cup warm up: Russia face rude awakening in 'dream' opener

The World Cup is upon us, and while the tournament opener is one that very few have been able to get enthused about, Russia’s clash with Saudi Arabia on Thursday is a match that the hosts daren’t lose.

When the draw was made last December, Group A was seen as the most favourable and a dream outcome for Stanislav Cherchesov’s side, though it’s one that could still turn out to be a nightmare.

Russia approach the tournament has been unconvincing to say the very least, without a win in seven international friendlies since a victory over South Korea at the start of October. They’ve faced some strong opposition in that time, earning a notable draw with Spain, but this side don’t have that winning feeling and are understrength to boot.

First choice centre-backs Viktor Vasin and Georgi Dzhikiya are both sidelined and not only forced the coach to recall 38-year-old veteran Sergei Ignashevich but ditch his favoured back three system to boot. Set up in a pragmatic 4-1-4-1 formation they have lacked imagination in recent friendlies, and Saudi Arabia will be confident of keeping a modest line-up at bay.

Full team news and odds in our match preview

The Green Falcons are in a state of transition themselves though, with Juan Antonio Pizzi taking over from the man that earned the nation a spot at the finals, Bert van Marwijk, late last year.

The former Chile boss has, however, already overseen 12 matches though with mixed results. The AFC qualifiers have lost their last three friendlies but 2-1 defeats to Italy and a full-strength Germany side ahead of the tournament will have boosted confidence rather than knocked it.

They too are without a key player in the form of creator-in-chief Nawaf Al-Abed but can call upon the pace of Salem Al-Dawsari and Fahad Al-Muwallad on the counter against a slow defence. As such this could be a real banana skin for the hosts and and is certainly not the one-sided contest that the odds would suggest.

Writer’s predictions:

Martin Laurence - Russia 1-1 Saudi Arabia
Ben McAleer - Russia 1-0 Saudi Arabia
Josh Wright - Russia 1-0 Saudi Arabia