Russia vs Cyprus. Predictions and Betting Tips for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier

Russia national team put up a terrible performance at Euro 2020 this summer and changed the head coach - Valery Karpin took over the team and now he has an objective to qualify for the World Cup. New manager got off to a flying start - in the first match Russians managed to keep the goalless draw in a home match against Croatia, who is their main competitor for the top spot in the group.

During October Russia played two matches - in the first one they recorded a 1:0 victory over Slovakia at home. Russians also were the favourites of an away match against Slovenia and confirmed that status - a 2:1 victory helped the team to rise to the top spot in the group. Russia approaches the last couple of matches at the top, but they are only two points ahead of Croatia. 

Cyprus national team was not expected to put up a fight against Russia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Malta for the World Cup spot. But Nikos Kostenoglou's men is not happy with their underdog status. Nonetheless, Cyprus team is currently only at 6th place and after eight rounds they have only five points. 

National team recorded the only victory in the third round, beating Slovakia (1:0) at home at the end of March. In the previous round Cyprus failed to keep the lead in the match against Malta - opponent scored an equalizer at the eighth minute of added time and a 2:2 draw didn't let Cyprus to leave the bottom spot of the group. Now team has a seven-game winless streak.