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Seeking to make it five wins from five in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Russia play host to Cyprus at the Krestovsky Stadium on Thursday.
The visitors are currently rooted to the bottom of Group H after a rough start to the campaign and will be looking to upset the hosts and pick up just their second win.
Russia continued their blistering run of results in the qualifiers as they claimed a 2-1 win away to Slovenia in their last outing.
Valeri Georgievich Karpin’s side have now won each of their last four games on the bounce, scoring seven goals and keeping three clean sheets since a goalless draw with Croatia back in September.
With 19 points from eight games, Russia sit top of the Group H standings, two points ahead of second-placed Croatia.
Cyprus, on the other hand, ended their dire losing streak last time out courtesy of a 2-2 draw with Malta on home turf.
Prior to that, Nikos Kostenoglou’s men failed to pick up a point in six straight games across all competitions, scoring none and shipping 15 at the opposite end of the pitch.
This dire run sees Cyprus rooted to the bottom of the group standings after claiming five points from eight games.
Russia vs Cyprus Head-To-Head
This will be the fifth meeting between the two sides. Russia have been utterly dominant in the history of this fixture, claiming four wins in that time.
Russia Form Guide: D-W-W-W-W
Cyprus Form Guide: L-L-L-L-D
Russia vs Cyprus Team News
Russia
Russia have called up 28 players to the national team, with the likes of Aleksandr Golovin, Fyodor Smolov and Aleksei Miranchuk headlining the team.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Cyprus
Cyprus head into the game with a 24-man squad, including Ludogorets Razgrad’s Pieros Sotiriou, Nicholas Ioannou and captain Demetris Christofi.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Russia vs Cyprus Predicted XI
Russia Predicted XI (4-3-3): Guilherme Marinato; Georgi Dzhikiya, Igor Diveev, Fyodor Kudryashov, Sergei Terekhov; Aleksei Miranchuk, Dmitriy Barinov, Aleksandr Golovin; Aleksei Ionov, Fedor Smolov, Anton Zabolotny
Cyprus Predicted XI (3-4-3): Constantinos Panagi; Nicolas Ioannou, Andreas Karo, Stelios Andreou; Andreas Avraam, Grigoris Kastanos, Kostakis Artymatas, Paris Psaltis; Ioannis Pittas, Loizos Loizou, Demetris Christofi
Russia vs Cyprus Prediction
Russia have been utterly dominant in their hunt for a place in Qatar and sit at the top of the group standings. Looking at the gulf in class and quality between the two sides, we anticipate they will comfortably claim all three points in this encounter.
Prediction: Russia 3-0 Cyprus
