Uruguay vs Russia Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

With a strikeforce consisting of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, many expected Uruguay to sweep away their competition in this World Cup group. However, they have adopted a much more cautious approach, and it’s one that could potentially cost them the top spot in this group.

They come into the final game of the group stages with two wins from two, but their contained style has limited both of their games to 1-0 scorelines. This means that host nation Russia top the group on goal difference, so the South Americans need a win on Monday if they want to take the top spot.

That said, Uruguay are phenomenally solid at the back. They have won five matches on the bounce now and now conceded a single goal in the process, and they’ve kept a clean sheet in seven of their last ten matches. With Russia expected to play within themselves and aim for a draw, we can’t see Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez getting too threatened at the back here either.

Russia came into their home World Cup as the lowest ranked team in the entire tournament, but they have proven the FIFA rankings wrong with two excellent performances so far. The first of these was a 5-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia in the tournament opener, and they followed that with an equally impressive 3-1 victory over Egypt on Tuesday to put themselves in prime position to top the group.

It’s been a surprisingly open and attractive style of football from the host nation, but against Uruguay they are unlikely to expose themselves as much. They know that a draw is enough to win their group, and Uruguay’s defence is a lot more solid than that of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Uruguay have lost just once in the last 12 months of football, and we don’t expect them to fall to defeat here either. They will press until the final whistle for a winner, and backing a Uruguay Draw No Bet looks the best choice of bets here. However, we’re expecting another tight game. Both of Uruguay’s matches have been goalless at the break so far, so we’re also going for a Draw/ Uruguay Half-Time/Full-Time result and a 1-0 correct score predictions.

Uruguay Predicted Lineup: Muslera, Varela, Gimenez, Godin, Caceres, Vecino, Bentancur, Nandez, Arrascaeta, Suarez, Cavani

Russia Predicted Lineup: Akinfeev, Fernandes, Kutepov, Ignashevich, Zhirkov, Gazinskiy, Zobnin, Cheryshev, Golovin, Samedov, Dzyuba