Russia vs Romania: Match Preview and Prediction

Russia vs Romania
International Friendly
Date: Tuesday, 15th November 2016
Kick Off: 16:00 UK
Venue: Akhmat Arena, Grozny, Russia.

With no competitive games given that they are the hosts of the next World Cup Russia has had to do with playing a host of friendly matches. Their last six have not been good and it’s fair to say that the Russians are in poor form. They have lost their last 2 matches and have lost 4 from their last six.

A 4-3 loss over Costa Rica followed a 2-1 loss away to Qatar as the Russians try to find the right balance and a squad good enough to compete well at their home World Cup. The only win that has been managed in the last six months was a home match victory over Ghana that ended 1-0.

Romania’s World Cup chances are in the balance as they are 4th in their group on five points. A recent 3-0 loss to Poland did not help matters and they like Russia have just one victory in their last six matches.

This clearly is a friendly match that Russia needs and Romania doesn’t as they try to recover in their group. Russia will be the team with the clearer heads and this has the potential to be a home banker.

Russia vs Romania: Head-to-head Stats

There have been just 3 fixtures between the two nations with the last one coming in 2008 when Romania at home won 3-0. In Russia the teams have played two times the first a draw and the second a 4-2 win for the home team. Both teams have scored in 66% of games with the over 1.5 goal market having a 100% success rate.

Russia vs Romania: Predictions

Russia will put out their strongest team because they will know the victory is here for them if they want it. They certainly need it just for a moral boost because their form has been that bad. It’s questionable what type of side Romania will put out, a loss means nothing to them as they need to focus on only one thing, World Cup qualification.