POLAND v SENEGAL
Kickoff: 1600hrs
Football – World – World Cup 2018 Betting Tips
Welcome to my World Cup 2018 betting tips, and the first round of all the group matches concludes with Poland taking on Senegal at the Spartak Stadium in this second match of Group H.
This group is the closest to a ‘group of death’ as I can see in this World Cup with any of the four teams having a fair chance of making it through to the knock-out stages. However, Poland will be keen to have their say in the proceedings and they possess one of the deadliest finishers on the world stage in the shape of prolific Bayern Munich striker, Lewandowski.
Poland were highly impressive during qualification as they topped Group E which was fuelled by a 100% winning record in Warsaw, as well as the prolific goalscoring exploits of Lewandowski who topped the scoring charts in the European section with a total of 16 goals, and his presence in the Polish team cannot be underestimated.
Perhaps just as important though was the fact that Poland picked up three away wins from their five matches on the road with wins at Romania, Montenegro and Armenia, and although results since qualification have been mixed with defeats to Mexico and Nigeria, they’ve also picked up wins over South Korea and Lithuania as well as draws with Uruguay and Chile.
It’s not all about Lewandowski though, as they possess two high quality goalkeepers in Szczesny and Fabianski, the latter almost single-handedly keeping Swansea City up in their relegation campaign, while midfielders Grosicki, Rybus and Zielinski will look to link up with Lewandowski up front.
Onto Senegal, and they started their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 5-2 aggregate win over Madagascar which saw them progress to the third round qualifying stage and a Group D that consisted of Burkina Faso, Cape Verde Islands and South Africa.
Senegal topped that group, winning four of their six matches and remaining unbeaten throughout the group stages, with Liverpool’s Sadio Mane playing a major part in Senegal’s long-awaited return to the World Cup.
It’s been 16 years since their last appearance, and followers of the Premier League will be be familiar with players such as defender Souare (Crystal Palace), midfielders Gueye (Everton), Kouyate (West Ham) and N’Diaye (Stoke City) along with forwards Sane (Liverpool), Diouf (Stoke City) and Niasse (Everton).
They’re expected to line up in either a 5-4-1 or a 4-5-1 formation with Birmingham City’s N’Doye being the lynch-pin in the middle of the park, while Mane and Gueye link up with Niasse in attack.
However, similar to Egypt, much rests upon the fitness of Mane who had a hectic season with Liverpool, and he may not start in this one.
This looks a fairly evenly poised match with my betting tips system suggesting backing Poland with the draw no bet option.
Pick: Poland AH0 @ 1.71 Marathonbet
