Together with Armenia and Republic of Ireland, the two teams are fighting for the top two places in Group B, meaning that this is a crucial encounter for both sides. Slovakia are in a difficult position following the embarrassing home defeat to Armenia, whereas Russia remained at the group summit despite playing out a goalless draw with Republic of Ireland.

Shock defeat to Armenia

Defence-minded approach and counterattacking style were the things that helped Slovakia qualify for the 2010 World Cup in the first place, so it is no wonder that boss Vladimir Weiss didn’t want to change anything during the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. In the lack of quality strikers, nobody was surprised to see Slovakia score just 6 goals in first 8 qualifying games, but their back line, on the other hand, worked like a charm, conceding just 4 in first 7 games. The 4:0 home defeat to Armenia in their last qualifier, as embarrassing as it was, is clearly a one-off result, so it shouldn’t be given too much importance. Despite the aforementioned defeat, Slovakia are still in the running for one of the first two places, but they obviously cannot afford to lose to Russia, as even one point from this match could be valuable, provided they beat indifferent FYR Macedonia in their final group game. This is why we can expect another cautious approach from the hosts, with the trend of playing low-scoring games likely to continue.

Key striker Robert Vittek misses out through injury, meaning that Filip Holosko is likely to start as a lone striker.

Russia closing in on qualification

Even though Russia appeared to have been placed in a fairly easy group, the truth is that Group B consists of one 2010 World Cup participant, one side that narrowly missed out on the tournament in South Africa, as well as Armenia, the team that have thoroughly impressed of late. Taking all that into consideration, Russia have done a good job to create a two-point advantage before the final two rounds, and they are now very close to ensuring automatic qualification. Seeing that Dick Advocaat’s side are set to host Andorra in their final Euro 2012 qualifier, they have no reason to attack Slovakia, but can simply play a waiting game or keep the ball possession and attack without risking anything. With Slovakia likely to adopt similar approach, we should see a very tight game, with chances few and far between.

Vladimir Dyadyun has been called to replace key striker Alexander Kerzhakov, but all other players are fit to feature.

Verdict

With Slovakia doing well at the back but facing big problems up front and Russia scoring just two goals and conceding none in last four games, this clash has under written all over it. Since the odds on under 2.5 goals are really low, my advice is to bet on under 2 goals, with your stake set to be refunded if exactly two goals are scored.

Our prediction: Under 2 goals

Odds: 2.04 (26/25)

Bookmaker: 188BET