Egypt v Uruguay Betting Tips: Latest odds, team news, preview and predictions With Salah struggling for fitness, Al Hain-Cole is backing La Celeste to easy to victory against Cuper's weakened team in their World Cup opener Egypt and Uruguay will be hoping to get their World Cup campaigns off to a winning start when they come face-to-face at the Ekaterinburg Arena on Friday. The Pharaohs have never won a match in the competition and have qualified for the first time since 1990. Latest Odds With this in mind, they are 6/1 (7.00) outsiders with bet365 to make history by coming out on top in their opening clash. Meanwhile, Oscar Tabarez's team have reached the latter stages in each of the last two editions, and are 8/13 (1.62) favourites to make their experience count by emerging victorious. The African side drew with both the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland in their last World Cup appearance, and you can get odds of 11/4 (3.75) on them starting this campaign with another stalemate 28 years on. Team News Mohammed Salah faces a race against time to prove his match fitness after the shoulder injury sustained in last month's Champions League final, with Ramadan Sobhi likely to take the star man's place should he fail to recover. Arsenal target Lucas Torreira is likely to start on the bench for La Celeste, while Gaston Silva will compete for the left-back spot with the experienced Martin Caceres. Egypt to struggle As the standout star and top-scorer in African qualification, it is hardly an exaggeration to suggest that Egypt's hopes rest mainly on Salah's injured shoulders. Hector Cuper's team scored just a single goal in their three warm-up matches without the Liverpool forward, drawing a blank in their most recent two. Even should Salah be deemed fit to start, he is unlikely to be at his sharpest as he takes on an opposition defence built around Atletico Madrid's solid partnership of Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez. Predictions Having conceded just once in their last five games and boasting the attacking talents of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani up front, odds of 6/5 (2.20) seem generous on Uruguay proving superior at both ends and winning to nil. Odds correct at the time of writing. Please gamble responsibly. Uruguay to win to nil at 6/5 (2.20) with bet365 for a 2pt stake<doc-sep>Sports Mole provides predicted lineups, team news and a full match preview of the World Cup Group A match between Egypt and Uruguay. Egypt kick off their third World Cup adventure with a match against Uruguay, a nation which has won the tournament twice and hosted its first ever instalment in 1930. The two sides will be hoping to get their Group A campaign off to a positive start as both have been tipped to challenge hosts Russia for the top spot and a more favourable draw in the last-16 of the competition. Egypt © Reuters Hector Cuper's Egypt may have won the Africa Cup of Nations a record seven times, but they are relatively inexperienced when it comes to the World Cup, and that could well be a deciding factor against a seasoned Uruguay side. The Pharaohs are making their first appearance at international football's premier competition since 1990, and they may have to play their opening match without the man who sent them there. Free-scoring Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah buried a dramatic late penalty against Congo last October to fire his country to the finals in Russia, but has been struggling with a shoulder injury since the Champions League final. Inspired by Salah, the Pharaohs qualified for the World Cup as group winners ahead of Uganda, Ghana and Congo with a game to spare, but have struggled in recent fixtures without him. Cuper's men head to the finals on a winless run spanning six matches, although they did impress during a narrow 2-1 defeat to Portugal and a goalless draw with fellow World Cup qualifiers Colombia. Cuper, however, has instilled defensive discipline into his side since taking charge in 2015 and has lost just one match by more than a single-goal margin during his tenure. The Pharaohs' problems at present lie very much at the other end of the field, since they have scored only once in four matches since Salah sustained injury, and that came in a 1-1 draw with Kuwait. Without their talismanic forward, Egypt head into the match against Uruguay as the underdogs and may need to rely on results against Russia and Saudi Arabia to stand any chance of making it through the group stage. Recent form: DLLDDL Uruguay © Reuters As two-time World Cup winners, Uruguay are technically the most successful team in Group A, though it should be pointed out that the last time they lifted the trophy was back in 1950. Their best performance since then was in 2010 when they reached the semi-finals, losing 3-2 to beaten finalists the Netherlands before ending up on the wrong side of the same scoreline against Germany in the third-place playoff. La Celeste are the favourites to top Group A, not least because of their front pairing of Edison Cavani and Luis Suarez, who scored a combined total of 71 goals in 99 matches between them at club level last season. Barcelona forward Suarez has 51 goals in 98 games for his country, and can equal the national record for World Cup strikes if he scores at least three in Russia. On the whole, La Celeste's form is solid heading into the tournament, with just one defeat and three clean sheets in their last six matches. That reverse was a 2-1 loss away to Austria, and Oscar Tabarez's charges have since put it behind them with 3-0 drubbing of Uzbekistan in their final warm-up game. Uruguay have reason to be confident in their opener against Egypt, having never lost to African opposition in a World Cup fixture. Recent form: WDWDLW Team News © Reuters Ahead of kickoff, whether Salah will be fit to take part in the match has dominated the headlines. A number of outlets are reporting that the Uruguay game will come too soon for him, but it sounds like the Liverpool winger could return for one of Egypt's other group games. In Salah's absence, Huddersfield Town's new signing Ramadan Sobhi is likely to make the starting XI, and he will receive support from creative playmaker Abdallah El-Said. Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal is almost certain to be handed a key role in the Pharaohs' midfield, where he will line up alongside Tarek Hamed in what is expected to be a 4-2-3-1 formation. Uruguay, meanwhile, are expected to make minimal changes to the side which defeated Uzbekistan last time out, although winger Cristian Rodriguez is likely to get the nod ahead of Nahitan Nandez. Tabarez has options at left-back but may opt for the experience of Martin Caceres over Gaston Silva. Up front, Cavani is expected to spearhead the attack in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Suarez sitting slightly deep as an advanced playmaker. Rising Sampdoria star Lucas Torreira is likely to start the game on the bench. Egypt possible starting lineup: El Hadary; Abdel-Shafi, Gabr, Hegazy, Ahmed Fathi, Hamed, Elneny, Sobhi, Said, Warda; Mohsen Uruguay possible starting lineup: Muslera; Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Pereira; Bentancur, Torreira; Rodriguez, Arrascaeta, Suarez; Cavani Head To Head Egypt and Uruguay have met only once before, and that was in an international friendly in 2006. The South American side's current captain Diego Godin scored the opener that day before Abdelzaher El Saqqa put through his own net to condemn the Pharaohs to a 2-0 defeat. We say: Egypt 1-3 Uruguay Egypt have struggled since losing Salah to injury and things will not get any easier for them against a highly-fancied Uruguay side. Between Suarez and Cavani, La Celeste will do damage to their opponents, while the Pharaohs will struggle to find a way past defensive duo Godin and Jose Gimenez without Salah.<doc-sep>
Egypt v Uruguay Friday, 13:00 Live on BBC One Tough opener for Pharaohs Egypt are competing in only their third World Cup and should be coming in with realistic hopes of qualifying from their group. The Pharaohs reached the African Nations Cup final last year and coach Hector Cuper, who has twice taken teams to Champions League finals, has the experience and tactical nous to ensure Egypt are dangerous opponents. Much of their threat obviously comes through Mohamed Salah with the Liverpool forward enjoying an astonishing 44-goal season for the Premier League club. His fitness is a question mark after suffering a shoulder injury in the Champions League final which means he could be held back for their crucial match against Russia. Without their talisman, Egypt's challenge against Uruguay becomes a great deal harder. Uruguay have the talent for extended World Cup run Uruguay have an excellent pedigree in the tournament with two trophy victories and the South Americans could have another extended run in the World Cup this summer. Oscar Tabarez remains in charge of the team after guiding them to fourth place in 2010 and the experienced coach will expect his players to qualify from the group after reaching the last 16 four years ago. There is a huge amount of talent, especially in attack, for Uruguay with a front line of Barcelona's Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani one of the most potent in the competition. But there is also plenty of quality behind them with Atletico Madrid's brilliant defender Diego Godin marshalling the back line. With the ability in their squad, Uruguay should finish top of this modest group and have no excuses for failing to qualify. Favourites well worth backing Uruguay are 1.645/8 favourites for their World Cup opener and you cannot really quibble at this price. With a wealth of experience and several world class players in their side, Uruguay should have too much for their opponents and I expect them to make a winning start. The odds are fair but there are alternative ways of adding value to a Uruguay win. Egypt should not be written off for qualification but this looks a very tough start for the Pharaohs. Salah's fitness remains in doubt and even if he does feature it would be a surprise if he is in peak condition. Egypt are 7.87/1 outsiders for this match but there is little interest in backing them to win for the first time in a World Cup match. The draw is available at 3.7511/4 and this is likely to be a target for Cuper's Egypt. He is expected to set up his team with a defensive strategy designed to frustrate the Uruguayans. That said, the South Americans should have enough firepower to open Egypt up and are fancied to start with a win. Low-scoring Uruguay win looks likely With a defensive gameplan from Egypt anticipated, Uruguay may have to be patient in breaking them down and it could prevent them from recording a big victory. The favourites are backed to claim the win but there could be value in combining this with under 2.5 goals. Uruguay should be able to prevent their opponents from netting and a low-scoring victory could be the most likely outcome. Cavani goal could add value to Uruguay win Cavani was the top scorer in the South American qualifiers with ten goals and the Paris Saint-Germain striker, who scored 37 club goals this season, is worth backing to net in this game. With the new Same Game Multi feature in the Sportsbook, you can get 2.53 on Cavani scoring in a Uruguay win which looks a tempting bet. Follow Simon's bets on Twitter @watfordtipster *** The Racing Post's chief football tipster Mark Langdon provided his best World Cup bets at Betfair's recent Preview Night...