FC Rostov v Ural Yekaterinburg Betting Tip

Sunday’s last Russian Premier League sees Rostov take on Ural. Neither of these sides are famous for their goalscoring prowess so this fixture could be rather tight. It will also be interesting to see how Rostov cope without Kurban Berdyev – the manager behind their surprise success last season.

Although Rostov did not make the ideal start to the domestic season in their 0-0 draw at home to newly-promoted FC Orenburg, they impressed in the Champions League where they managed to qualify for the playoff round thanks to a 2-0 victory away at Anderlecht – despite having conceded two away goals in the first leg. This outstanding result should have given them a new confidence going into Sunday’s RPL game despite the sudden loss of their pragmatic manager.

Manager Vadim Skripchenko got one over his old boss in Ural’s 2-0 victory over Ufa. The Ekaterinburg side employed an interesting wing back formation to surprise their opponents and it paid off thanks to goals from the two Romans – Yemelyanov and former Tottenham striker Pavlyuchenko. However, beating relegation fodder 2-0 at home is a lot easier than going away to last season’s runners-up Rostov, who have the most stubborn defence in the league and will not be pushed over so easily.

My tips for Rostov, particularly when they are at home, are generally quite boring but they tend to win most of the time so I have gone for the same again here. Berdyev’s departure does not mean that Rostov will suddenly forget how to defend and for them to win to nil is once again good value at 7/4 and is usually a banker.

However, with Berdyev leaving, you may find the odds swing in your favour on a straight Rostov win. That market has so far not reacted to the news yet but it may be worth looking at closer to kickoff.