Belgium v Russia 1x2 predictions and betting tips

Match	Date	Selection	Bet	Odds	Bet now
Belgium v Russia 1x2 predictions and betting tips World Cup 2014, International	22/06/2014 18:00	full time result	Draw	3.50	Bet at B
Betting prediction was written by Dan Adair

BELGIUM V RUSSIA:1st GAMES

Belgium were in a sticky spot at one point against a spirited Algeria side but in the end they triumphed thanks to a dynamic supersub performance from Dries Martins. The Napoli man looked a handful as Belgium stepped up a few gears to win the match. Russia struggled in the game with South Korea and were evenly matched against the generally poor Asians. Akinfeev blundered in goal and gifted one to Korea. Russia were labouring for most of the game.

THE BELGIUM SQUAD

Coach: Marc Wilmots

Goalkeepers: 1.Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid, on loan from Chelsea), 12.Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), 13.Sammy Bossut (Zulte-Waregem).

Defenders: 2.Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid), 23.Laurent Ciman (Standard Liege), 18.Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit St Petersburg), 4.Vincent Kompany *C* (Manchester City), 15.Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich), 21.Anthony Vanden Borre (Anderlecht), 3.Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal), 5.Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham).

Midfielders: 22.Nacer Chadli, 19.Mousa Dembele (both Tottenham), 16.Steven Defour (Porto), 7.Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg),8. Marouane Fellaini, 20.Adnan Januzaj (both Manchester United), 10.Eden Hazard (Chelsea), 11.Kevin Mirallas (Everton), 17.Divock Origi (Lille), 6.Axel Witsel (Zenit St Petersburg).

Forwards: 9.Romelu Lukaku (Everton, on loan from Chelsea), 14.Dries Mertens (Napoli).

THE RUSSIA SQUAD

Coach: Fabio Capello

Goalkeepers: 1.Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), 12.Yury Lodygin (Zenit St Petersburg), 16.Sergey Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan).

Defenders: 14.Vasili Berezutskiy *C* (CSKA Moscow), 13.Vladimir Granat (Dynamo Moscow), 22.Andrey Yeshchenko (Anzhi Makhachkala), 4.Sergey Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), 2.Alexey Kozlov (Dynamo Moscow), 23.Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow), 5.Andrey Semenov (Terek Grozny), 3.Georgi Schennikov (CSKA Moscow).

Midfielders: 8.Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), 7.Igor Denisov (Dynamo Moscow), 10.Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), 18.Yury Zhirkov (Dynamo Moscow), 21.Alexey Ionov (Dynamo Moscow), 19.Alexander Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow), 20.Victor Faizulin (Zenit St Petersburg), 17.Oleg Shatov (Zenit St Petersburg), Pavel Mogilevets (Rubin Kazan).

Forwards: 6.Maxim Kanunnikov (Amkar Perm), 11.Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit St Petersburg), 9.Alexander Kokorin (Dynamo Moscow).

BETTING ANALYSIS

We tipped the draw here before the start of game 1 and the price has actually mushroomed to a huge 3.50 (5/2) - Belgium have dipped below Even money but they dont have to kill themselves here. I think Russia are more than capable of holding Belgium. Capello will again set his side up to contain and with Belgium struggling for the majority of the Algeria game to break them down they may experiance it again here. The draw is a result that would put both teams in with a chance of qualification going into round three against the two weaker sides in the group.