Russia favoured to beat Nigeria in October friendly as 1.89 odds highlight contrasting form

Russia and Nigeria meet at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, in a friendly between two sides experiencing very different fortunes. The match will kick off at 16:00 GMT, with Russia priced at 1.89 to win.

Russia remain excluded from official international competitions by UEFA and FIFA for political reasons and have used friendly matches to maintain their competitive rhythm while awaiting a possible return. Valeriy Karpin’s side have won their past four games, beating Iran 2-0 and Namibia 6-0 in the past two weeks after 3-0 victories over Burkina Faso and Trinidad and Tobago in June.

Those results have brought four successive clean sheets and 14 goals in four matches, an average of more than three per game. Captain Alexandr Golovin scored twice against Iran but will miss this fixture because of injury and has returned to AS Monaco.

Russia showed against Namibia that they can cope without Golovin, with Lechi Sadulaev scoring and impressing in attack. They have also won at least five corners in each of their past four matches.

Nigeria’s recent record is considerably less encouraging. The Super Eagles, who missed the last World Cup, have won only one of their past four matches across all competitions. That run includes two friendlies in June and their opening two 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in the past 10 days.

Their only victory was a narrow 2-1 home success against Madagascar, while a 3-0 defeat by Guinea-Bissau last Tuesday has raised greater concern. Eric Chelle’s side appeared short of ideas at the National 24 September Stadium in Bissau, despite having an attack containing Ademola Lookman, Moses Simon and Akor Adams.

Nigeria were without Victor Osimhen and lacked conviction in front of goal. They have nevertheless averaged five corners and 17 shots per match across their past two games.

The teams have met only once before. On 6 June 2025 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, they drew 1-1, with Sami Ajayi scoring an own goal for Russia before Tolu Arokodare equalised for Nigeria.

Player to watch: Lechi Sadulaev

With Golovin unavailable, Sadulaev is expected to be one of Russia’s main attacking threats. The Akhmat Grozny forward started on the left and scored against Namibia, continuing an impressive start to the club season in which he has registered two goals and three assists in seven Russian Premier League appearances.

The match forecast favours Russia to win 2-0, available at 7.4, while Sadulaev is priced at 4 to score at any time. More than 9.5 total corners is offered at 2, and Nigeria are priced at 4.2 to win the shots-on-target market.

Odds may change.