Russia v Czech Republic. Dmitry Khlestkin’s prediction

This will be the first warm-up match for Russia before they start the Euro campaign against England on June 11. The Czech have already had a match against one of the worst teams in Europe – Malta – which they won easily (6-0).

The last time these two met was in 2012, when Russia won 4-1, but they failed to progress from the group, unlike Czech Republic.

Russia’s coach Leonid Slutsky has announced he will field his best eleven against Czech Republic. Only midfielder Roman Shirokov will miss the game due to a minor injury. At the same time, physical coach Paulino Granero has said the team is now under heavy physical training so that they will be able to reach their highest levels when the official games kick start.

Czech Republic will have two more days to prepare for EURO 2016, as they start proceedings slightly later with a match against Spain. The team is probably now concentrated on working on their questionable defensive play, something that will definitely need to be improved if they are to compete against the Spanish. Against Russia this is likely to be their main focus and it’s unlikely that they’ll be too expansive here.

To me, the most probable outcome of this match is a draw, but both teams are likely to score, as well. 9 out of the 10 games of the Czech team in the Euro qualifiers ended up with BTTS, and this game against Russia shouldn’t be an exception.