Hosts Russia are out to bag maximum points when they face Mexico in the Confederations Cup Group A tie on Saturday night at the Kazan Arena Stadium.
On their side Mexico will not leave anything to chance,knowing better that the match could make or break both sides’ chances of qualifying for the semifinals.
A draw for Mexico and a win for Russia will give any team some prospects to lead the group in this last match.In order to deliver,Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio willbe forced to make changes in the defence due to injuries to Carlos Salcedo and Hector Moreno.
Osorio however is expected to revert to his first-eleven following his failed experiment in their last game aganist New Zealand.
For the hosts,Stanislav Cherchesov will need to get a new formula as it is a must win for his boys.By the look of how they played in second match,physical and mental fatigue hit the team because of pressure of playing at home.
Indeed Cherchesov has promised to make some changes and he has already acccesed the players and determined those who will be on duty tonight.
“I’ll decide based on the opponents, but also by assessing what shape my players are in,” he said in the wake of the loss to Portugal.
Mexico and Russia have met 12 times before with most common result being a draw, of which there have been seven, while the eastern Europeans have won four and the central Americans have collected a solitary victory. That came in a friendly at the Azteca in February 1986.
Possible line-ups
Mexico: Guillermo Ochoa; Diego Reyes, Nestor Araujo, Rafa Marquez, Miguel Layun; Jonathan dos Santos, Hector Herrera, Andres Guardado; Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, Raul Jimenez.
Russia: Igor Akinfeev; Aleksandr Samedov, Georgy Dzhikiya, Viktor Vasin, Fedor Kudryashov, Yury Zhirkov; Denis Glushakov, Aleksandr Erokhin, Aleksandr Golovin; Dmitry Poloz, Fedor Smolov.
