England vs. Russia: Live Stream, Odds and Form Guide for Euro 2016
After all the questions, hype, preparations and squad dilemmas, it all begins here for Roy Hodgson’s England team, as they kick off their UEFA European Championships campaign against Russia in Marseille on Saturday.
Despite boasting a squad full of bright young stars and coming into the finals on the back of a qualifying campaign in which they won all 10 games, there are concerns about the team and questions about the way the manager will set them up. Russia have their own issues too, though, making them potentially vulnerable opponents.
With three teams from Group B potentially going through to the second round, the significance of the opening game is a little diminished, but each side will be desperate to get off to a strong start.
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Here’s a look how the bookmakers are seeing things on the cusp of this one, how both teams have been playing ahead of the tournament and how the match is likely to pan out.
| England (19/20) | Draw (51/19) | Russia (50/13) |
| Harry Kane (4/1) | Jamie Vardy (11/2) | Fedor Smolov (9/1) |
| Wayne Rooney (5/1) | Marcus Rashford (5/1) | Dele Alli (17/2) |
| Daniel Sturridge (11/2) | Artem Dzyuba (15/2) | Aleksandr Kokorin (9/1) |
| W vs. Portugal (1-0) | D vs. Serbia (1-1) |
| W vs. Australia (2-1) | L vs. Czech Republic (1-2) |
| W vs. Turkey (2-1) | L vs. France (2-4) |
| L vs. Netherlands (1-2) | W vs. Lithuania (3-0) |
| W vs. Germany (3-2) | L vs. Croatia (1-3) |
Odds available in full via Oddschecker and accurate as of 7:30 a.m. (BST), June 9.
Match can be streamed via the ITV Hub (UK) and Watch ESPN (US)
Expectation on England
A prosperous qualifying run coupled with a brilliant, come-from-behind 3-2 win in Germany in a friendly left a lot of England supporters positive about the potential of this team with the tournament moving closer and closer into view.
After a poor showing at the FIFA 2014 World Cup, Hodgson seemed to find a blend, whether that be set up in a diamond system or 4-3-3. England were functional and, as was the case during the friendly in Berlin, thrilling to watch at times.
The attacking areas are evidently the best stocked positions of this 23-man party, especially with Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy to call upon, with each enjoying brilliant seasons with Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City respectively. As these numbers from Squawka Football illustrate, the two forwards have both been in superb goalscoring form this year:
What will be a concern for a lot of England fans is the manner in which they were used during the final pre-tournament friendly, with both filtering wide without the ball, leaving captain Wayne Rooney as the most advanced player; it meant transitions were clunky and attacking fluidity was absent.
It also stoked memories of two years ago when Hodgson, looking to accommodate his captain, inexplicably moved Rooney into an unfamiliar left-wing role. Russian football commentator John Bradley noted that his opposite number is doing the same thing:
In fairness to Leonid Slutsky, he’s been forced into making his tweaks. That’s because the camp have been struck by a hugely unfortunate couple of injuries, with the central midfield positions hit particularly hard.
Perhaps most encouragingly for England, Alan Dzagoev, who is the team’s creative fulcrum, is out of the tournament. Factor in the absence of Igor Denisov, who has been revitalised under the new coach, due to fitness issues and the loss of form for Roman Shirokov and there’s a soft centre that England can exploit.
It’s desperately disappointing for a team that turned a corner after the turgid tenure of Fabio Capello. Per Paul Hayward of the Daily Telegraph, it seems as though the coaching staff are still dwelling on the absence of key members of the team, too:
Indeed, the buildup to the tournament has not been positive for Russia, with no wins from any of their three preparatory matches. They still have fine players who could potentially thrive on the night and make things tough for England’s uncertain back four, but getting a foothold in the game without the axis Slutsky has forged the side’s progression around will be hard work.
England won’t care and have an excellent chance to put themselves in a strong position. Hodgson needs to stave off his pragmatic reflex and let his attacking players out of their shackles; if he does that, then the Three Lions will have too much firepower for their depleted opponents.
Prediction: England 3-1 Russia
