Euro 2020 Preview - Russia

[Dave]

  Russia

Russia received a four year world wide ban from sports events from WADA. They will however be able to compete in the Euros as the UEFA competition is considered a regional competition and not a major world event. 

Road to Euro 2020
Russia recorded an impressive eight wins during qualifying as they finished second behind Belgium. They recorded seven consecutive wins before a 4-1 demolition to hands of Belgium set them back. The only two defeats they had in qualifying were to Belgium but they were able to score in all ten matches. In total they scored 33 goals during the qualification process. 

 

What to Expect 
Manager Stanislav Cherchesov has ensured that his side have remained as interesting going forward to watch as they were during the World Cup. They also like to keep possession and are very efficient with a "pass and move" style of play which appears to suit their more key players. They exceeded 54% possession in all of their qualifying matches, other than when they played Belgium.

Possible Lineup
Russia played 4-2-3-1 through the majority of qualifying but have been experimenting more with a 3-5-2 following a 5-0 mauling by Serbia in The Nations League.

Antonin Shunin is likely to start in goal, whilst his place wasn't assured during qualification but his biggest threat in Guilherme was left out of the most recent international squad.

Andrey Semenov and Fedor Kudryashov are likely to play as the centre-back pairing should Russia play a 4-2-3-1. In a 3-5-2 formation its likely that Georgiy Dzhikya will join them. Yury Zhirkov position as either left full back or left wing back seems secure despite being 37 years old. Vyacheslav Karavaev impressed on the opposite side during qualifiers but Mario Fernandes is available for selection again and played all three of the recent World Cup Qualifiers.

Magdonin Ozdoev is the most assured player to start in the centre of midfield. Roman Zobnin missed the most recent World Cup Qualifiers through injury but we expect him to regain his place given his impressive performances during qualification.

Infront of these three, Aleksandr Golovin has featured in all three of their recent World Cup Qualifiers and is expected to retain his place. They'll be hoping for a repeat of his World Cup heroics if they're to progress beyond the group stages. Duler Kuzyaev recent form at international level should be enough to ensure he features in the starting eleven whlst Aleksey Miranchuk featured prominently during the qualification process and we believe he will be entrusted to play a big role in this side. Artem Dzyuba has been in great form during qualification for his country and is likely to keep his place upfront.

Key Player
88 goals in 205 games for Zenit St Petersburg and 29 goals in 50 games for his national team. Artem Dzyuba is trusted at both national and international level to lead the line and deliver when it matters. At 32 years this may be the strikers last chance to make an impact at a major tournament and he will no doubt be hoping to make the most of it.

Predictions
Russia should be an enjoyable team to watch. It will be interesting to see if they have developed a new strategy to stop Belgium. The match against Denmark should be crucial in deciding who finishes second in this group.

[Azeem]

Putin may have wired some of these players

[Tommy]

Feels weird to see Russia without Akinfeev in goal. 

[Eco]

How is Russia able to compete under their flag? I know they are on a sporting ban, and that has even been implemented in Chess where one of the players, Nepo, won't be able to have the Russian flag on his side.

[ScoRoss]

5 hours ago, Eco said:

How is Russia able to compete under their flag? I know they are on a sporting ban, and that has even been implemented in Chess where one of the players, Nepo, won't be able to have the Russian flag on his side.

WADA don't recognize UEFA competitions as 'Major events', so Russia are still allowed. Different story for the World Cup though.