Match Previews

Made use of Saudi Arabia's mistakes in the opening game. Aleksandr Kokorin, Giorgi Jikia and Viktor Vasin the most significant absentees from the squad. Alan Dzagoev went off injured in their last match and ruled out here. Would secure qualification with a win.

Russia made the perfect start to their World Cup campaign with a big win over Saudi Arabia. Stanislav Cherchesov's side played well, but were especially good at using their opponent's mistakes and will need to continue improving for their upcoming matches.

The tournament hosts come into this match at the top of the group table after Uruguay's narrow win over Egypt. A win here for Russia would see them through to the knockout stages.

Cherchesov reverted to a 4-2-3-1 for the match against Saudi Arabia which worked far better than the 5-3-2 previously used. Tactically speaking the hosts are likely to keep their approach from last time out.

The trio of Aleksandr Kokorin, Giorgi Jikia and Viktor Vasin would have been in the squad had they been fit after playing a part in most of the warm up for the tournament. All three have serious injuries.

Key attacking midfielder Alan Dzagoev went off injured in the first half of the opening game and will miss out on this match. He remains in the squad and will begin light training again soon so could still feature later in the competition, though that now looks unlikely.

In the absence of Dzagoev, Villareal midfielder Denis Cheryshev came off the bench and was impressive, scoring two goals. He will likely start here.

In attack Artem Dzyuba may get a start after also coming off the bench and finding the net. The target man striker was more effective in attack than Fyodor Smolov meaning Cherchesov has a tough decision to make.