England will look to get their Euro 2016 campaign off to a winning start when they kick-off against Russia on Saturday 11th June at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.

Victory in their opening game would be an ideal start for Roy Hodgson and his squad in their quest to top Group B which would, theoretically, secure England an easier draw in the knock-out stage thereafter.

England are deemed favourites to beat Russia in their opening fixture and, as their first game of the tournament, the bookmakers will all be keen to attract new customers and consequently there will be a vast range of Euro 2016 free bets up for grabs. It does look like a good opportunity to back England at slight odds-against to beat Russia, based on the relative strengths of the two teams.

Now of course England have a history of underperforming at major finals, but it would be a truly abject failure were they not to qualify from their group on this occasion, particularly with up to three of the four teams potentially progressing through to the knock-out stage.

Based on the pre-tournament betting, Russia are considered to be England’s biggest threat in Group B. This isn’t a vintage Russian squad by any means though and there is a definite lack of star quality throughout.

In stark contrast to the largely youthful look of England, the Russian squad is almost certainly going to be heavily reliant on 30-somethings in key areas. The heart of the Russian defence looks particularly vulnerable to pace, which England have in abundance.

The main Russian attacking threat is likely to come from Artem Dzyuba. In many ways he’s almost an old-fashioned traditional English-style number nine – powerful and good in the air. If England can restrict crosses into the box, they should be able to cope with him better than most teams.

The Russians certainly shouldn’t be underestimated though. The core of Leonid Slutsky’s squad will be made up of players from Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow, so they should all be largely familiar with their respective roles. Veteran captain Roman Shirokov can orchestrate the play alongside Alan Dzagoev and they do present a threat down the flanks, with Oleg Shatov a particularly gifted player.

Slutsky is also a highly respected coach and tactician. He replaced Fabio Capello during the Euro 2016 qualifiers and won all four of his matches in charge to ensure Russia’s place in France. Slutsky also currently combines a dual role of coaching CSKA Moscow alongside Russia, so he will have inside knowledge of the domestic league from which the vast bulk of his squad will be drawn.

Winning the group obviously doesn’t automatically guarantee an easier passage in the knock-out phase, but England’s chances of a decent run to the latter stages of Euro 2016 will almost unquestionably benefit from doing so. A winning start could be crucial to those aims.