Poland vs England
England heads to the National Stadium in Warsaw on Wednesday, hoping to keep a 100 per cent record in tact when they face Poland.
The hosts are placed second in European Qualifying Group I and World Cup 2022: Poland vs England brings together two of the most prolific strikers in world football. FC Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski and Spurs centre forward Harry Kane are likely to face off as the Three Lions aim to extend their lead at the top of the group.
It promises to be a fascinating clash as the Poles need a win to claw back some of the five point deficit and, arguably, a point would be a good enough result for England. But Gareth Southgate’s young lions don’t tend to hold back, they are hungry for success after coming so close at Euro 2020 and so I think we’ll see both teams going for the jugular.
Talking Points
Poland’s first big test
Paul Sousa’s team come into the game in prolific scoring form, beating Albania 4-1 and then taking San Marino apart in a 7-1 mauling, but England is an entirely different prospect. The hosts need their top scorer to keep firing and he’s in very good form. Lewandowski scored twice in the hammering of San Marino while Adam Buksa scored a late hat-trick to add to the goal he bagged against Albania. That made it four goals in his first two international games for the New England striker and he may have earned another start alongside the main man. As well as scoring regularly for the Poles, Lewandowski bagged his 300th goal for FC Bayern last week as part of yet another hat-trick as the champions swept Hertha Berlin aside.
But those back to back wins ended a run of six games without a victory for Poland, spanning an underwhelming Euro 2020 performance, where they picked up a solitary point in a draw with Spain, a couple of friendly fixtures and then the last time these two teams met at the opening of this World Cup campaign back in March. The Three Lions came out on top but they left it late when Harry Maguire scored a late winner. Kane put England ahead from the penalty spot before Jakub Moder equalised for the Eagles. It was the first goal Nick Pope had conceded in seven games as England keeper, and Poland had enough of the match to deserve a point had they held on beyond the 85th minute.
Sousa has a talented collection of players with three Serie A stars in their ranks. Poland keeper Wojciech Szczesny is Juventus’ number one, while Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski is widely known to be one of the best creative midfielders in the Italian league, and Torino’s midfield ace Karol Linetty is a regular fixture in the national side.
Kane likely to lead England
The pre-match Poland vs England news suggests that Harry Kane will return to the starting line-up having been rested for the Andorra game when he came on as a second half substitute and scored a penalty.
The Young Lions have recovered quickly from the heartache of Euro 2020. They beat Hungary 4-0, in a hostile environment in Budapest in their first match since the Euro final. Raheem Sterling has continued his Euro 2020 form with England while, at 28 years of age there could be a second coming for Jesse Lingard who scored twice in the 4-0 win over the minnows of Andorra. His spell at on loan West Ham last season has re-ignited the Manchester United player’s career.
History
The Poland vs England betting odds are backing an away win and the Three Lions’ recent form justifies that emphatically. England have won 13 of the last 15 games, drawing the other two at Euro 2020 against Scotland and Italy, but of course they lost their chance for glory in a disastrous penalty shoot-out against the Azzurri. Meanwhile, Poland’s winless streak, before their back-to-back victories, begs the question of whether they are up to an opponent among the best in the world.
In terms of head-to-head results there is no encouragement for the hosts either; the Eagles have drawn three of the 10 meetings since 1986 and lost the other seven, including the 2-1 reversal at Wembley in March.
Betting Tip
Poland vs England | Over 2.50 @ 2.19 | |
September 9, 2:45 (GMT+8) |
Poland are at SBOTOP odds of 4.45 while the Three Lions are odds-on at 1.64, with the Draw available at 3.45.
I’m expecting goals.
Lewandowski has scored six goals so far in the competition, while Harry Kane has four, and I wouldn’t bet against either of them getting on the score sheet on Wednesday night.
A repeat of the 2-1 score-line, in favour on England, is at odds of 6.76, while the 1-1 draw is the most likely score-line at odds at 6.16, and a higher scoring draw at 2-2 will pay a price of 20.20.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR () BETS ARE WORTH: | |||
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= €20 (Highly confident) | = €10 (CONFIDENT) | = €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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