International Friendly: Russia v Costa Rica Betting Tips

14:00, Oct 09 2016
14:00, Oct 09 2016
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After a match against Ghana, this latest Russian national team friendly against Costa Rica shows how the 2018 World Cup hosts are trying to test themselves against a wide variety of opponents in preparation for their home tournament in just under two years time.

New Sbornaya coach Stanislav Cherchesov has again opted for a different squad to the one that faced Ghana last month in order to try and give a good number of players a chance to impress and stake a permanent claim in the squad for the World Cup.

After a shocking European Championship campaign, Russia have actually done fairly well and are unbeaten under new manager Cherchesov. The Russian national team have a history of being pretty poor against teams who play at a high intensity so it will be interesting to see how they cope with Costa Rica on Sunday evening – especially given a number of injuries to key players.

Everybody was impressed with Costa Rica at the 2014 World Cup – they showed that desire often counts for more than ability – at Italy and England’s expense – and it took them all the way to the quarter-finals. However, they suffered an indifferent campaign in this year’s Copa América Centenario, finishing third in their group after a shocking defensive performance over the three matches (6 goals conceded). Although it was a poor tournament for the Central Americans, it must be noted that they pulled off an impressive 3-2 win over Colombia who many fancy as being the next new South American World Champions.

Oscar Ramírez’s squad only has two or three well-known players in it – Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas, Everton fullback Bryan Oviedo and former Fulham forward Bryan Ruiz. This lack of star names is probably a good thing for a smaller nation as it allows a better team spirit and togetherness to evolve within the camp.

Although Costa Rica have won their last three matches, the last two were against smaller nations. Apart from the Colombia victory (which was actually on neutral territory) their recent away form against the bigger teams is not great. I am also unsure how a team whose players are mostly based in the Americas will cope with a long flight to south Russia as well as the match itself – not well I suspect.

Russia are down as the favourites for this game and I would have to back the bookies on that. The best price on a home win is 10/11. TNot the highest price, but certainly worth taking here. 

If you fancy something at a higher price then I also like the look of ‘Half Time/Full Time – Draw/Russia’ at a very nice 7/2.

With their style of play, Russia are hardly a team that is likely to be going for Costa Rica’s throats from the off, whilst I think the away side will happily sit in for 45 minutes. Although Russia are at home, the fact that the match is in a new stadium in Krasnodar will take a while for the home side to adjust to.

After a drab first half I would expect Russia to up the tempo a bit and take advantage of a Costa Rica side who should certainly be feeling the impact of the long flight. The Russians will have got the feeling of the stadium by this point and I would expect them to record their second victory in a row during the last 45.

See more tips here.

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International Friendly
14:00/9 oct
Russia v Costa Rica
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Single: Lost
International Friendly
14:00/9 oct
Russia v Costa Rica
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