African giants Egypt will take on two-time world champions Uruguay in the second match of the 2018 World Cup on Friday.
FIFA World Cup
Group A
Egypt vs Uruguay
Friday 15 June
Ekaterinburg Arena
14:00
To Win
Egypt 52/10
Draw 51/20
Uruguay 6/10
Egypt
Egypt come into their first World Cup finals since 1990 with good reasons to be optimistic as they’re in a group with Russia, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia where progression is wide open. The Pharaohs also have a superstar, Mohamed Salah, in their ranks which will boost their chances of reaching the last 16.
Egypt became the second team from Africa to book their place in Russia, topping Group E with a game to spare. In qualifying, Hector Cuper’s men claimed victories over Congo (1-2 and 2-1), Ghana (2-0) and Uganda (1-0), but also lost to Uganda (1-0) and drew with Ghana (1-1).
The Pharaohs will be sweating on the fitness of Salah, who was injured in the Champions League final, and will hope that the Liverpool star can carry his fine club form into the World Cup. The former Roma man lit up the Premier League last season, scoring over 40 goals in all competitions which led to multiple accolades. Salah has 33 goals in 55 appearances for Egypt and he’ll look to terrorize the Uruguayan defence.
Uruguay
Uruguay are favourites to top Group A but this could arguably be their toughest game. But with Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani up front and the Atletico Madrid partnership of Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin to deal with Salah, Oscar Tabarez’s side will be confident they can beat the Egyptians. The two-time champions have a fine history in World Cups, finishing fourth as recently as South Africa in 2010.
After reaching the World Cup finals with relative ease, La Celeste were held to a goalless draw by Poland and were beaten 2-1 by Austria in forgettable friendlies in November 2017. However, they beat Czech Republic 2-0 in their China Cup opener before edging past Wales 1-0 to lift the title in March.
Suarez and Cavani are crucial to their country’s chances. Both play the No.9 position for their respective clubs – Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain – but that hasn’t stopped them from combining effectively as a strike duo nationally. Suarez is Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer with 50 goals, while Cavani has 42.
Cavani topped the South American CONMEBOL region charts with 10 goals, finishing ahead of players such as Argentina’s Lionel Messi, who had seven, and Brazil’s Neymar, who had six. The Paris Saint-Germain striker will look to improve his World Cup scoring record in Russia, having found the net just twice in 10 games at the main tournament.
Probable line-ups:
Egypt: 4-3-3
El Shenawy; Fathy, Gabr, Hegazi, Shafy; Elneny, El Said, Hamed; Salah, Koka, Hassan.
Uruguay: 4-4-2
Muslera; Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Silva; Bentancur, Valverde, Vecino, De Arrascaeta; Suarez, Cavani.
Prediction: Uruguay Win (6/10)
Uruguay are solid at the back and spectacular up front and I’m backing them to pick up all three points here.
Written by Chadley Nagel