Wednesday 15 June 2016 21:06, UK
Russia will look to build on their late comeback against England when they meet Slovakia in their second group game in Lille on Wednesday.
Vasili Berezutski's stoppage-time goal which gave the Russians a 1-1 draw with England in Marseille at the weekend was greeted like a winner and they will take confidence from that.
They will come up against a Slovakian side which needs points, however, after they lost their first fixture 2-1 to Wales.
With four third-placed teams going through, a failure to win would not necessarily be fatal for Jan Kozak's side but the need to start collecting points has undoubtedly increased.
Slovakia will take heart from the fact they have not lost back-to-back games for more than two and a half years.
They will also be encouraged by the fact Russia have kept just two clean sheets in their last 16 European Championship finals outings - and won just one of their last six matches.
With heavy rain falling in Lille on Wednesday, the retractable roof at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy could be closed for the match.
Team news
Russia midfielder Denis Glushakov may start if deemed to be fully-fit following a calf strain after featuring in the last 10 minutes against England.
Back-up goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin missed training on Tuesday with a knock.
Following a 2-1 loss to Wales on Saturday, Slovakia coach Jan Kozak may decide to make changes to his side, with Ondrej Duda pushing for a start after scoring against Wales shortly after coming on a substitute.
Opta stats
This will be the ninth time these sides have faced each other. Russia have claimed three wins to Slovakia's two, with three draws.
Neither of these teams have been able to score more than once across their last six meetings, with just seven goals scored in total in these matches.
This will be the first time Russia have taken on Slovakia in the European Championships, although they have met twice previously in qualifying for the tournament - each claiming a 1-0 away victory.
Slovakia are without a goal in 243 minutes against Russia and have scored only one goal in their last four games with them.
Three of Russia's last four goals scored in the European Championships have come in the final 11 minutes of games.
Russia have only managed to score twice in their last four meetings with Slovakia but the scorers - Alexander Kerzhakov (2014) and Alan Dzagoev (2011) - were left out of Russia's Euro 2016 pool.
Merson's prediction
Much has been made of Russia being poor against England but I thought Roy Hodgson's side were outstanding. Saying that I don't think Russia are as bad as people think. Slovakia may have lost against Wales but they did have their moments against Chris Coleman's side. At 1-1 I thought there would be only one winner so fair play to Wales for coming back. I can't split these two sides and think they'll share the spoils in Lille.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1
Betting
Russia are Sky Bet's 13/10 favourites for the victory with Slovakia given a 9/4 chance while a draw is 21/10. Wednesday's clash brings together the two outsiders to win Group B, with Russia 11/4 followed by Slovakia 20/1, while England lead the market at 11/10.
Artem Dzyuba heads the first goalscorer betting at 4/1 while Michal Duris and Adam Nemec are rated the outsiders' main threats at 7/1 apiece.
Follow Russia v Slovakia - and every game at Euro 2016 - with our live blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports apps.
