Russia and Northern Ireland meet in the lone World Cup qualifying match of Wednesday's international slate.
The winner of the group automatically books a berth to the World Cup next summer while the second place team in the section winds up in a two-legged playoff with another second place team.
Russia is currently the second place team in Group F but has a distinct advantage over first-place Portugal: games in hand. While the Seleçao has contested seven World Cup games, Russia has only played five and is only two points behind.
Russia started its World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland at home. The team then dispatched Israel 4-0 before taking control of the group with a 1-0 win over Portugal at home. The team then took a late 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan, but lost 1-0 against Portugal in its most recent game.
After losing 2-0 against Russia, Northern Ireland drew 1-1 with Luxembourg. In its third qualifier, the squad shocked Portugal in a 1-1 draw, and the team also managed a 1-1 draw with Azerbaijan. However, Northern Ireland's most recent qualifier featured a 2-0 loss against Israel.
With only five games played, Northern Ireland can still compete for the World Cup spot, but a loss would only leave the team with a maximum of 12 points remaining; Russia would have 15 total points with four games to go and would only need one to eliminate Northern Ireland from obtaining the top spot.
Prediction: Russia wins 5-0.
Start Time: 2:45 p.m. EST
TV: Sports Net
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