Russia finalise their preparations for Euro 2020 on Saturday as they welcome Bulgaria to the VTB Arena in Moscow for a friendly battle.

The hosts played out a 1-1 draw with Poland in midweek to kick off their warm-ups for the Euros in a conservative manner, while Bulgaria managed to hold Slovakia to a stalemate by the same scoreline.

Match preview

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Even with a couple of the big-hitters missing as Russia seek to avoid any further fitness concerns before this summer's tournament, they still managed to go toe-to-toe with a Robert Lewandowski-less Poland and come away with their heads held high in a 1-1 draw.

Poland took just four minutes to draw first blood as Jakub Swierczok tapped home, but Stanislav Cherchesov's side were level on the 20-minute mark as Vyacheslav Karavaev met Aleksandr Golovin's looping cross at the back post and powered home through the legs of Lukasz Fabianski.

Of course, the story could have been a whole lot different had Lewandowski been given the freedom to unleash his prolific powers, but with the Bayern Munich man watching on from the bench throughout the 90 minutes, Russia claimed a credible draw ahead of Saturday's less daunting fixture.

On a similar note to that of Lewandowski, Russia have been boosted by the news that Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne is likely to miss their opening clash of Euro 2020 through injury, but Cherchesov's side still have their work cut out if they are to get one over the world's top-ranked nation.

Scandinavian duo Denmark and Finland also have equal aspirations of a place in the knockout rounds of Euro 2020, so Russia can take nothing for granted in Group B, but they have a prime opportunity to lay down a marker with a dominant showing against Bulgaria.

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A Slovakia team aiming to make a statement of intent before the European Championship was expected to breeze past a Bulgaria side without the wind in their sails, so it came as a surprise to see Atanas Iliev break the deadlock for the visitors with eight minutes on the clock.

However, the forward's first goal for the national team was soon cancelled out by Laszlo Benes after 26 minutes, and there were no more goals to be had as the two sides shook hands on a stalemate which would have pleased Bulgaria much more than Slovakia.

Then again, that 1-1 draw did stretch Bulgaria's winless run across all competitions to six matches, and Yasen Petrov is still searching for that elusive first win in the dugout since replacing Georgi Dermendzhiev at the helm.

With no Euros to take into account, Bulgaria can afford to go all out in their three friendly fixtures, but they face a monumental challenge against world champions France three days after locking horns with Russia, and their last win away from home came all the way back in September 2018.

Bulgaria's only win in their four meetings with Russia to date came all the way back in 1997 during qualifying for Euro 1998, and the two sides will be going head-to-head on Saturday for the first time since 2010, during which Dick Advocaat's Russia claimed a 1-0 win in a friendly.

Team News

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Russia had to make do without experienced duo Mario Fernandes and Denis Cheryshev for their opening friendly with Poland, but both players are reported to have returned to full training and could be involved on Saturday.

Fernandes would normally be a shoo-in on the right-hand side, but Karavaev has staked a claim for a starting role with his well-taken equaliser against Poland, while Cheryshev is up against it to demote Golovin or Aleksey Miranchuk to the bench.

Number one goalkeeper Anton Shunin made way after 63 minutes against Poland to allow Matvey Safonov to make his debut for the national team, but the former should reprise his role in between the sticks here.

As for Bulgaria, injuries to Spas Delev, Dimitar Kostadinov, Anton Nedyalkov and Georgi Yomov prevented them from turning out against Slovakia, but Petrov is unlikely to consider many changes after a strong showing in midweek.

The upcoming showdown with France must be taken into account, though, so Birsent Karagaren and Kristiyan Malinov could benefit from some necessary rotation as Petrov aims to keep his players fresh.

Russia possible starting lineup:
Shunin; Diveev, Dzhikiya, Semenov; Fernandes, Zobnin, Ozdoev, Zhirkov; Miranchuk, Cheryshev; Dzyuba

Bulgaria possible starting lineup:
Naumov; Turitsov, P.Hristov, Antov, Bozhikov; Malinov, Vitanov; Despodov, Kraev, Tsvetanov; A.Iliev

We say: Russia 2-0 Bulgaria

A respectable draw against Slovakia represented the most positive result of Petrov's reign in the Bulgaria dugout so far, but he is unlikely to experience much joy against a fired-up Russia.

The hosts have one last opportunity to build some momentum ahead of the Euros and are coming up against a side renowned for their troubles on the road, so we can only back Russia to come out on top.

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