Moldova vs Russia Betting Tips

The visitors can in theory seal qualification on Friday but that would be dependent on Sweden slipping up in Liechtenstein which seems unlikely. Since the appointment of Leonid Slutsky to replace Fabio Capello there have been encouraging signs of improvement and the CSKA Moscow boss has won both his games in charge of the national team so far. A crucial 1-0 qualifying win over Sweden and a thumping 7-0 win in Liechtenstein last month has given Russian football a much needed boost.

His side know that they only need 4 points from this game in Moldova and their home clash with Montenegro next week to seal a place in France next summer. With confidence seemingly restored they should put in a much better performance here than the disappointing 1-1 draw with Moldova in Moscow this time last year.

Their opponents are not a strong side and although they tend to avoid heavy beatings they are unquestionably one of the weakest teams in Europe and are likely to finish below even Liechtenstein in this group having only taken one point from their two matches against the tiny Central European nation.

Moldova have been beaten to nil at home 3 times already in this group and they just don’t really possess much of an attacking threat. Russia have only conceded 4 times in their 8 group matches and surely will come here and win without conceding at 4/6.

There is likely to be no repeat of that huge win in Vaduz last month though. Moldova are a limited but disciplined side and they’ll have to work for their goals. A 2 goal advantage will surely be enough to kill off the game though given Moldova’s poor attacking record.

After that Russia can start to think about Montenegro next week which in all likelihood will decide who ends up 2nd and 3rd in this group. They may opt to conserve energy in the latter stages of this game if they can get 2 ahead so backing Russia to win 2-0 at 9/2 looks like the smart bet here.