drd23 Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Spain (Group B 1) vs Russia (Group A 2) @ 14:00 GMT (10am US EDT) The third match-up in the Round of 16 is between the 2010 World Cup winners, Spain, and the hosts in Russia. Spain: One of the major favourites heading into the tournament, Spain were involved in one of the most exciting matches in the first round of group games against Portugal, before getting lucky against Iran and just did enough to scrape a draw against Morocco. Their attacking play, which will be lead by Isco and Andres Iniesta, will be the typical possession-based style we've come to know from Spain since the early/mid 2000s, with the occassional hoof forward to frontman Diego Costa. It is expected that Koke will start in central midfield to provide a bit more defensive ability to help cover for the potential lapses/attacking forays by the full backs and Sergio Ramos. De Gea is guaranteed to start in goal despite his mistakes. Russia Russia were hugely impressive in the first game of the tournament, beating Saudi Arabia 5-0, although the cynics out there may suggest that the result might not hold up to scrutiny. Denis Cheryshev was the star of that game. Aided by rumoured Chelsea target Aleksandr Golovin who has played well throughout their 3 games so far, Russia will need to be content to sit back and defend well and then pick their moments when to attack to exploit potential lapses in defense from the full backs who are likely to push forward. Set pieces might be their other prime opportunity to score, especially if they continue to start massive target man Artem Dzyuba. Prediction: On group stage performance alone you'd have to pick Russia but I can't go past the technical superiority of the Spaniards combined with the physicality of Diego Costa up front. Spain to win 2-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Iniesta and Thiago have been dropped with Asensio and Koke coming. Interesting to drop Iniesta, he's been phenomenal. I'm guessing Spain think they can rest him against Russia which is a bold thing to do in the knockout rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Russia: Akinfeev; Fernandes, Kutepov, Iganshevich, Kudriashov, Zhirkov; Kuziaev, Zobnin, Samedov, Golovin; Dzyuba Subs: Semenov, Cheryshev, Gazinskii, Dzagoev, Smolov, Lunev, Granat, Al Miranchuk, An Miranchuk, Gabulov, Erokhin Spain: De Gea; Nacho, Pique, Ramos, Alba; Koke, Busquets; Silva, Isco, Asensio; Costa Subs: Kepa, Reina, Carvajal, Iniesta, Alcantara, Odriozola, Azpilicueta, Niguez, Vazquez, Machado, Aspas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roysmyboy31 Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 I don't expect that Spain will have much trouble in this matchup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 2 minutes ago, roysmyboy31 said: I don't expect that Spain will have much trouble in this matchup. They should roll but they haven't exactly been lighting the tournament on fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAW Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 How is Cheryshev not starting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drd23 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 18 minutes ago, LeeEvans said: Iniesta and Thiago have been dropped with Asensio and Koke coming. That's surprising. I would have dropped David Silva for Asensio instead, and actually said as much the day after this match-up was confirmed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 2 minutes ago, drd23 said: That's surprising. I would have dropped David Silva for Asensio instead, and actually said as much the day after this match-up was confirmed I would guess they're concerned with over working Iniesta but I would agree, Iniesta has been better than Silva so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 7 minutes ago, PAW said: How is Cheryshev not starting? That is extremely shocking, I missed that when I posted the teams earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drd23 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 23 minutes ago, PAW said: How is Cheryshev not starting? Looks like he was the victim of a formation change to add another CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drd23 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 that's a weird looking goal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 I cant really see Russia coming back from an early goal. Spain certainly have some frailties though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 I hate Sergio Ramos more than it's rational to hate another human being that you've never met. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 This has not been a particularly interesting match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drd23 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 Golovin almost made it interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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