We begin our coverage of Group B with a look at Russia; a side that has flattered to deceive on the European stage.
Winners of the inaugural UEFA European Championship in 1960 (as the Soviet Union) and three times runners-up, their pedigree is seemingly a long and proud one. They have only made it out of the group stages once, however, on their way to the 2008 semi-final, in the post-Soviet era.
Repeating those heroics looks beyond an ageing squad that should, nonetheless, still make it into the knock-out phase. They face England at 8pm on Saturday, June 11, Slovakia four days later at 2pm and round off their group matches against Wales at 8pm on Monday, June 20.
Second favourites behind England for the group, Leonid Slutski’s men would face the runners-up of Group F in such a scenario, which could see them square up to the likes Austria, Iceland or Hungary and boost their chances of progressing into the quarter-finals.
ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
Russia finished the qualification campaign strongly, winning their last four matches to finish second in Group G to surprise package Austria and consigning Sweden to a play-off berth.
A mid-campaign change in management saw Slutski replace Fabio Capello, prompting a more attacking emphasis, and they lost just two matches, both 1-0 to the group winners.
The 21 goals scored in ten qualifying matches looks solid enough, but 11 of those came in their two fixtures with Liechtenstein, whilst crowd trouble at their away match in Montenegro led them to being awarded that tie 3-0.
At the back, Russian conceded just five times in qualifying – racking up five clean sheets, they were never breached more than once in any of their ten group fixtures.
In terms of recent friendlies, Russia have played five times over the last 12 months, triumphing over Belarus, Portugal and Lithuania, with clean sheets accrued in the latter pair of fixtures. The 4-2 win over Belarus, though, allied with losses to Croatia (1-3) and France (2-4) suggests they seem to have lost some resilience of late.
Most Appearances Igor Akinfeev (10); Sergei Ignashevich, Aleksandr Kokorin (9); Vasili Berezutsky, Dmitri Kombarov, Alan Dzagoev, Oleg Shatov, Artem Dzyuba (8), Igor Smolnikov, Denis Glushakov, Roman Shirokov (7)
Most Goals Artem Dzyuba (8); Aleksandr Kokorin (3); Sergei Ignashevich, Dmitri Kombarov, Fedor Smolov, Oleg Kuzmin, Alan Dzagoev (1).
Most Assists Sergei Ignashevich, Artem Dzyuba, (2); Dmitri Kombarov, Aleksandr Kokorin, (1).
The Key Targets
Russia’s reliance on target man Artem Dzyuba is total. The six-foot-four inch forward averaged a goal per appearance over qualifying, although all but one of his eight strikes came against the group’s bottom two teams. Dzyuba does, however, have an excellent club record at the highest level, scoring in each of his last five Champions League group fixtures and notching 22 goals and 11 assists in 44 appearances for Zenit St Petersburg last season. Priced at 8.0 in the Uefa game, he is the focal point of a 4-2-3-1 formation that lacks pace, but has a good deal of midfield guile and is difficult to break down.
Sergei Ignashevich looks costly at 5.5 for a defender, but Russia’s most capped player offers the greatest attacking threat amongst from the back and served up a goal and two assists in qualifying. Ignashevich was also placed in the top three spots for successful tackles and interceptions amongst Slutski’s squad, highlighting his potential in the Draft Kings offering.
Aleksandr Kokorin (7.0) scored three on the road to France but his value is diminished by being deployed out wide while being classed as a striker in the Uefa game. Nonetheless, he still fired the same number of attempts as Dzyuba in qualifying and sat second for efforts in the area.
Dmitri Kombarov (6.0) replaced Yuri Zhirkov at left back in the qualification campaign and, with the latter now injured and out of the squad, should start all three group matches. In the official UEFA game, Kombarov has been designated as a midfielder, which compromises his value, though the underlying numbers bode well in the Draft Kings offering. With Alan Dzagoev sidelined through injury, Kombarov is the undisputed number one for dead-ball duties, whilst his crossing, successful tackles and interceptions should bring in the points.
Skipper Roman Shirokov is expected to play in “the hole” behind Dzyuba. Valued at 6.5, he will need to improve on his meagre return of two assists in qualifying, though Shirokov did register double-figures for both efforts on goal and key passes over his seven appearances.
THE LONG SHOTS
At 6.5 in the Uefa game, Oleg Shatov looks set to take up his spot on the right of Russia’s 4-2-3-1. Although his output in qualifying wasn’t great, he played all but two of those matches and bagged ten goals and 14 assists in all competitions for Zenit last year. Shatov is also likely to be handed a share of dead-ball duties in light of Dzagoev’s absence.
Priced at 5.5 in Uefa, Feder Smolov was the top scorer in Russia’s Premier League last season, with 20 strikes to his name. He isn’t guaranteed to start but with Zhirkov injured, Kokorin should stay on the left and could see Smolov utilised alongside Dzyuba in a 4-1-3-2 if Slutski needs to go on the offensive.
In defence, Igor Smolnikov comes in at just 5.0 and may appeal to those keen on a cheaper option in defence. The right-back played a part in seven of the qualifiers and his delivery from out wide could be beneficial in Draft Kings.
Upcoming Friendlies
Czech Republic vs Russia (June 1), Serbia vs Russia (June 5)
Further Analysis
Group A – Albania, France, Romania, Switzerland.
