Egypt vs. Russia Prediction
The second round of group play matches begins today with a showdown between Egypt and favored host country Russia. Will the Russians earn a second straight victory after cruising to a win in the tournament opener?
Game Snapshot
97848 Egypt vs. 97849 Russia
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
St. Petersburg Stadium at 2PM ET
TV: FOX
Public Betting Information
According to oddsmakers, Russia is a +105 favorite to win on the moneyline. Egypt is a +310 underdog, while a bet on the draw is at +210. The total is set at 2 goals.
Egypt still looking for first goal
In its first match of the World Cup, Egypt was shut down 1-0 by Group A favorite Uruguay. The game remained scoreless until the 89th minute when Egypt fell in heartbreaking fashion as Jose Gimenez scored a goal on a header off a corner kick. Egyptian star Mohamed Salah did not play due to injury, but it sounds as though he will suit up versus Russia today. Egypt held 43 percent of the possession, committed 12 fouls and put three shots on goal in the game.
Russia coming off dominant performance
The host team entered the World Cup believed to be one of the weakest teams in the field and there is still plenty of time left to .prove prognosticators right, but at least for one game Russia looked formidable as it blew past Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the first game of the tournament. Iury Gazinsky opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a goal, while Denis Cheryshev added his first of two goals in the 43rd minute. Artem Dzyuba made it 3-0 in the 71st minute and Cheryshev scored again in the first minute of extra time. Aleksandr Golovin added to the rout a few minutes later to make it a 5-0 final. Russia did not allow a shot on goal in the contest.
Prediction:
I feel like Russia is being overrated by oddsmakers after destroying another lousy squad in Saudi Arabia. Egypt showed me something against Uruguay as it had a fantastic game plan and really did a nice job of keeping Uruguay contained until the late header. If Salah plays, the Egyptians will have more offensive firepower than it did last week. Take Egypt to win as the underdog here.
WORLD CUP DAILY PREDICTION: EGYPT +310