On Wednesday June 20th at 11am Eastern in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Saudi Arabia will face Uruguay in the 2018 World Cup. It will be the second match of the tournament for both teams. Uruguay is coming off an emotional 1-0 victory against Egypt, while Saudi Arabia is trying to bounce back after a 5-0 thrashing in the World Cup Opener vs Russia.
These teams have played each other twice in their history, the most recent being a 1-1 draw in 2014. The other was a 2002 match that Saudi Arabia won 3-2. Things have changed drastically for Saudi Arabia since that last contest, as they are now a group of relative unknowns in the tournament. According to our World Cup betting odds, they are expected to finish last in the group. Most of their players play in the domestic league, while Uruguay has some fairly high-profile talent that play for different clubs throughout Europe. Uruguay is therefore the favorite to win this match, while Saudi Arabia will contend with being the underdog.
Uruguay
After having won their first game thanks to a goal in the final minute, Uruguay will likely want to fine-tune their approach against a less potent rival in Saudi Arabia. Namely Luis Suarez will be looking to improve on his performance in game one, when none of his four shots on goal found the back of the net. A lot is expected of Suarez in this World Cup if Uruguay is to advance into the later rounds. He is the centerpiece of this team and Uruguay's fate is closely tied to how well he performs. Likewise, the second biggest name on Uruguay's roster is Edinson Cavani, who also had a frustrating first match, slamming a free kick off the post late in the game.
As for lineup changes going into the second game, Uruguay's Manager Oscar Tabarez will insert Carlos Sanchez and Cristian Rodriguez in the midfield. Both were on the bench to start the last game but got substituted in for the second half.
Saudi Arabia
After their shocking 5-0 loss to Russia, the Saudi Arabian team had an even more traumatic experience as their plane had an engine fire as the team flew to Rostov-on-Don from St. Petersburg on Monday. The team landed safely and the airline insists that nobody was at risk and that a bird flying into the engine is what caused the incident.
This comes before what will be the Saudi's most difficult match of the group stage, and one they absolutely need to win if they have any hopes of advancing. Against Russia they visibly lacked technical precision, and only managed six shots directed at the net, none of which found their way on goal.
Match Overview
Uruguay will likely employ the same offensive approach in this game as they did throughout qualifying as well as their 1-0 win vs Egypt. A relatively inexperienced defense on the Saudi side will not likely be able to handle the firepower that Uruguay has. Saudi Arabia will try to play a tighter defensive game than they did against Russia. Their back four are experienced players, but they are also getting on in age. Three of the four likely starters are over 30 years old. In goal, Saudi Arabia will likely go with Abdullah Al-Mayouf, who stopped 9 shots against Russia.
