Belgium has edge

Hyderabad: Dark horses, Belgium were uninspiring but victorious nevertheless in their opening encounter against Algeria. Being a goal down, coach Marc Wilmots had to rely on substitutes for a last gasp win.

Russians, on the other hand, managed to salvage a draw by the grit of their teeth, after goal keeper Igor Akinfeev bungled a soft save. Fireworks are hardly expected when both the teams face in a crucial Group H encounter at Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. A win is paramount for both teams to avoid a potential group 16 clash against Germany.

Belgium captain and their mainstay in defence Vincent Kompany is nursing a groin injury and is doubtful for the match. Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen might pair Daniel Van Buyten in the defence with Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.

Moussa Dembele and Nacer Chadli, who started the opening game were ineffective and might be replaced by goal scoring substitutes, Marouane Fellaini and Dreis Mertens. Belgian poster boy Eden Hazard, who looked a pale shadow of his former self against Algeria, has to be at his best to pip the Russians, who defend deep in their own half.

Belgium is among the very few enjoying the luxury of falling back on substitutes, who could possible change the complexion of the game. Touted as the ‘Golden Generation’ of footballers, there is more pressure to perform up to the expectations.

Russians coach Fabio Capello built his team as a solid defensive unit and favours counter attacks to score. However, the wingers who are not very quick will be up for a challenge to beat the Belgian back four. Capello, benching the creative Alan Dzagoev against the South Koreans has raised many eyebrows. It would be interesting to see, whether the diminutive midfielder starts.

Akinfeev, who is said to have razor sharp reflexes, made a mess of a save in the opening fixture. It has to be seen if Capello will retain or replace him. As the feisty Italian, who managed English team in 2010 made a knee-jerk decision of replacing Robert Green with David James, when the former bungled a save.

Belgians will look to play a patient possession based game, while the Russians look to defend deep in their own half. It will be a low scoring game with an edge to the Belgians, who have a better attacking arsenal.

Probable lineups:

Belgium: Thibaut Courtois, Toby Alderweireld, Thomas Vermaelen, Daniel Van Buyten, Jan Vertonghen, Axel Witsel, Marouane Fellaini, Dries Mertens, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku.

Russia: Igor Akinfeev, Andrey Eshchenko, Vasily Berezutskiy, Sergey Ignashevitch, Dmitry Kombarov, Igor Denisov, Denis Glushakov, Alexander Samedov, Alan Dzagoev, Alexander Kokorin and Aleksandr Kerzhakov.