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Two teams at opposite ends of Group H of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers go head to head on Saturday when Cyprus face Russia at the GSP Stadium.
Russia are tied on seven points with Croatia at the top of the group, while Cyprus find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table after four games played.
Cyprus were denied a second consecutive win in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as they suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Malta.
In a game where Costas Soteriou received his marching orders, Cain Attard put in a headline-grabbing performance as he scored in either half to inspire Malta to all three points.
It was a third defeat on the bounce for Nikos Kostenoglou’s men, who were beaten by Ukraine and Hungary in their previous two friendly outings.
Cyprus have now managed just one win from their last seven games across all competitions. They are currently rock-bottom in the group with four points, picking up one draw and losing five games.
Meanwhile, Russia played out a goalless draw against 2018 finalists Croatia on home turf on Wednesday.
This followed a poor run in the European Championship, where they suffered a group-stage exit after picking up three points from three games in Group B.
With seven points from their last three qualification games, Russia are currently tied with Croatia at the top of Group H.
Valeri Karpin’s men are currently winless in four of their last five games in all competitions. They will seek improvement on that run as they continue their hunt for a place in Qatar.
Cyprus vs Russia Head-To-Head
Russia boast a near perfect record against the hosts, picking up four wins from their previous five games. Cyprus are yet to taste victory against the Russians, while the spoils have been shared once.
Cyprus Form Guide (all competitions): L-L-L-W-L
Russia Form Guide (all competitions): D-L-W-L-W
Cyprus vs Russia Team News
Cyprus
Cyprus head into the game with a clean bill of health following their injury-free clash against Malta on Wednesday. However, defender Costas Soteriou will sit out the game after picking up a red card in the aforementioned game.
Injured: None
Suspended: Costas Soteriou
Russia
Following their resilient display against Croatia, we expect head coach Valeri Karpin to name an unchanged XI from his 29-man squad on Saturday.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Cyprus vs Russia Predicted XI
Cyprus Predicted XI (3-4-3): Neofytos Michael; Andreas Karo, Zach Muscat, Marios Antoniadis; Paris Psaltis, Charis Kyriakou, Kostakis Artymatas, Nicholas Ioannou, Fotis Papoulis, Dimitris Christofi, Ioannis Pittas
Russia Predicted XI (4-3-3): Guilherme Marinato; Mário Fernandes, Igor Diveev, Georgiy Dzhikiya, Vyacheslav Karavaev; Daler Kuzyaev, Dmitriy Barinov, Aleksandr Golovin; Aleksey Ionov, Aleksei Miranchuk, Arsen Zakharyan
Cyprus vs Russia Prediction
Despite their recent slump, Russia find themselves at the top of the table, level on points with Croatia. While Cyprus are currently bottom of the table, they are just three points below Saturday’s visitors. We predict this will be an entertaining contest with Russia stealing a narrow win on enemy territory.
Prediction: Cyprus 1-2 Russia
