Lithuania vs Russia
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Today’s secondary featured game is the International Friendly in Switzerland between Lithuania and Russia.
In this game, we have two like-minded sides with similar strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of both sides are strong and reliable players, not to mention there being a lot of experience in both squads. Both sides build from the back and both sides struggle to create chances. Neither side is short of aerial prowess nor the ability to cause an upset but when two sides like these two meet, there tends to be very few goals. I classify sides such as Lithuania and Russia in the same bracket as Slovakia, for example. All of those sides are capable of beating the right opponents but it tends to be a mind-numbingly boring affair when they meet each other.
For this game, Lithuania are without Karcemarskas through injury. Considering that Arlauskis isn’t in the squad and Stauce has hung up his boots, it’s hard to be confident in any of Lithuania’s remaining goalkeepers. In fact, Lithuania themselves are the most dubious part of this bet, really – they’ve named a very inexperienced squad, hence the odds on Russia being so short. Bafflingly, in-form A Lyga hitman Rimkevicius isn’t in the squad, which I simply cannot explain. They’re a decent bunch of grafters though, these guys, and there’s enough rivalry between the two nations to make sure that they work hard here.
Happily, Russia are as far from a flambuoyant side as you could hope to see. They may well score a goal or two here but I very much doubt that they’ll push on to hammer Lithuania. They don’t want to injure their players ahead of the European Championships and they may well want to try a few new faces here. Defenders Shishkin and V.Berzeutskiy are out for Russia but against an almost non-existant Lithuanian attack, that really shouldn’t matter. I still don’t think Russia are good enough to penetrate a side like this with any kind of consistency but time will tell if I am right.
Approach this one with caution as it’s a friendly and because Lithuania are trying a few newbies. It may be wise to wait for the line-ups, really. However, I still see value in taking under 2.5 goals as neither of these two nations are notorious for their goalscoring ability.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at evens.
Tuesday’s Picks
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!
International Friendlies:
Lithuania vs Russia (6) 0-1
Bulgaria vs Turkey (5) 2-2
Italy vs Luxembourg (7) 2-0
Angola vs Republic of Macedonia (5) 2-1
Icelandic Urvalsdeild:
IBV Vestmannaeyjar vs Stjarnan Gardabaer (7) 1-0
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Fredrikstad vs Viking Stavanger (5) 0-0
Enjoy your free betting tips!