Money Makers - Top Tips for England-Russia Buabook Match Market

England kick-off their Euros campaign on Saturday and depending on who you believe, the meeting with Russia could be the trickiest or easiest match of the group stages for the Three Lions!

There is little doubt that a month or so ago this opener would have been seen as a tough proposition for Hodgson’s men, and that is likely to remain the case, but injuries to key members of Leonid Slutsky’s side have led to a rethink from the Russia boss. Having had an immediate impact upon replacing former England boss Fabio Capello last year, the highly-rated CSKA Moscow manager inspired four consecutive victories to ensure Russia’s place at Euro 2016.

Key to their progress, however, was the decision to move Alan Dzagoev into a deeper position in midfield and bring back Igor Denisov in the holding role. The duo sparked an instant and impressive rapport in the middle that looked like giving Russia a good platform for a strong showing this summer, but both have cruelly been ruled out through injury.

Slutsky must now decide whether to re-jig personnel in his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation or switch to an attacking 4-3-3, with reports suggesting that the latter option may well be taken.

England, meanwhile, still have selection dilemmas of their own following a string of underwhelming friendly performances, with very few of the XI chosen to play in the testing game with Portugal doing their chances of retaining a starting berth much good.

Uncertainty with regards to both line-ups makes any predictions difficult, though there is money to be made by tipping which players you think will get off to a strong start with Buabook. The world’s first player trading exchange for real cash will be running markets throughout the Euros, with England’s opener with Russia among those likely to draw the most interest in the opening round of matches.

With both sides far better in attack than defence, goals are likely, and potentially at both ends, despite Russia’s underdog status.

While Hodgson has plenty of options at his disposal in the final third, Harry Kane is the only man certain to start on Saturday, and understandably so. The Tottenham striker ended the Premier League campaign as top scorer (25 goals) and is among the favourites to challenge for the Golden Boot this summer.

The Spurs man will face an ageing centre-back partnership of Ignashevich (36) and Berezutski (33), hoping to exploit the lack of pace at the back, and could cause real problems as a result. If Kane can find the net he would add £1.00 to his game earnings in the Buabook match market, while shots on target - of which the Spurs striker averaged 2 per game last season - each add £0.06 to a player’s game earnings. As a result I’d wait to buy shares in Kane south of £0.60, well within the realms of possibility to double your money on each.

If you’re not so keen on the Kane to score suggestion but do think England will break the resolve of what looks likely to be an attacking Russian line-up then selling defenders from Slutsky’s XI is a safer bet. Indeed, with each goal conceded deducting £0.20 from a defender’s game earnings, in turn preventing them from securing a £1.00 clean sheet bonus, if you can sell shares in any around the £0.40 mark - provided said defender doesn’t score (£1.00 boost) or register and assist (£0.60 boost) - you’re likely to make a profit on your shares.

If, meanwhile, you think that Russia’s impressive front three will make an impact of their own then there are options to choose from. Artem Dzyuba will spearhead the attack and carries an impressive aerial threat, with 7 of his 15 league goals last season scored with his head. It is, however, Fedor Smolov that may be Slutsky’s secret weapon, with the 26-year entering the tournament in top form as the top scorer in the Russian Premier League last season (20 goals).

It had seemed as though he would be the man to miss out on a starting berth but injuries in midfield may force Slutsky into a more forward-thinking approach. Operating from the left, Smolov is capable of causing England real problems and is likely to be available at a lower price in Buabook’s match market at the start of the game than Dzyuba or Kokorin.

I would actually be particularly interested in the Krasnodar front man if he doesn’t start the match, oddly enough. Indeed, if Smolov is introduced in the second half if Russia are chasing the game, I’d be tempted to buy shares at a cut price upon his introduction. With a goal always likely to leave you in profit on a player trade, if you can correctly place faith in a substitute to find the net you can make the biggest gains. In that case, if Smolov is left out of Slutsky’s starting XI, I will definitely be keeping an eye out if he is brought on.

With neither line-up settled by any means, here’s hoping that attack wins out over defence on Saturday in what should be an open and entertaining affair.

You can buy and sell shares ahead of the England's Euro 2016 opener with Russia on Saturday night in BuaBook's match market