Prediction: Hungary vs Russia

Verdict: Away win

Best Odds: 29/20

Bookmaker: bet365

Hungary will see Monday’s friendly as a good opportunity to improve their spirits ahead of the WC qualifier against Andorra, taking place next Friday. Meanwhile, Russia begin preparations for the 2017 Confederations Cup, where they need to show they can mix it up with the best of them on international stage ahead of the next year’s World Cup.

Hungary

Hungary did well to qualify to the Euro 2016, reaching the first major tournament since 1986 as they defeated Norway in the play-offs. Foci even managed to get past the group stage after defeating Austria and sharing spoils with Iceland and Portugal, but were then hammered by Belgium in the quarter-finals. Head coach Bernd Storck was obviously allowed to continue at the helm, but it seems that he won’t be able to take his side to Russia. Namely, Hungary already trail leaders Switzerland and second-placed Portugal 8 and 5 points respectively, although they don’t seem to give up on the World Cup berth just yet. The head coach appears to have started the squad rejuvenation process, including six uncapped players on his latest roster, while experienced players Zoltan Gera, Adam Pinter, Gergo Lovrencsics, Krisztian Nemecs and Nemanja Nikolic all miss out. Chances are that Storck will name his strongest side in Monday’s friendly against Russia, but it remains to be seen whether his charges can return to winning ways.

Team News

Richard Guzmics, Mate Vida and Bence Mervo all miss out through injury, but Zoltan Stieber returns to the side and domestic league top scorer Marton Eppel is included.

Russia

Following the disappointing performance in France, Leonid Slutsky was relieved from his post and replaced with Stanislav Cherchesov, who has so far failed to bring the much needed improvement. Under his command, Russia were beaten by Costa Rica, Qatar and Ivory Coast, while only defeating Romania and sharing spoils with Belgium. If they continue in the same manner, Sbornaya komanda could be in for a largely disappointing Confederations Cup tournament. The new boss named 30 players on his preliminary list for the showpiece tournament and he is expected to trim the roster in the coming days. Cherchesov appears to prefer playing with three men at the back, using 3-1-4-2 or 5-3-2 formations, The boss has several players who are feeling the ill-effects of the long season and they are unlikely to be risked against Hungary, but could rather play a part in the final warm-up game against Chile four days later. Russia will have had around 10 days of training when they face Bernd Storck’s side, meaning they should be in better shape than the opposition.

Team News

Artem Dzyuba, Yuri Gazinskiy, Denis Glushakov and Roman Zobnin are not at 100%, and they are unlikely to start, while Aleksandr Kokorin, Oleg Shatov and Georgi Schennikov didn’t even make the preliminary squad.

Key Factors to Consider

• Russia won three of last four meetings with Hungary (D1)
• Both teams scored in their last three meetings
• Russia lost three of five games under Cherchesov (W1 D1)
• Hungary failed to score in two of last three away fixtures
• They also failed to register a goal in last two games

Conclusion

Russia have been far from impressive of late, but the team is slowly getting shape and we expect them to produce a decent performance on Monday. Hungary, on the other hand, have got a lot of new players in the squad and their struggles look set to continue.

Verdict: Away win

Best Odds: 29/20

Bookmaker: bet365