World Cup Qualifiers: Poland vs. England Preview, Odds, Prediction

Poland needs to defeat England and then hope that the Three Lions slip somewhere along the road to get to the first place. But also, the hosts need to secure three points in order to avoid potential problems, considering the second spot in Group I of the World Cup qualifiers. Meanwhile, the English team is pretty much safe on top, and if they come back from Warsaw undefeated, Gareth Southgate and his unit are already in Qatar. WagerBop.com brings a short preview of this event, which is by far the most interesting on Wednesday.

Preview

Poland (+475) has been steaming these days, posting two wins in a row with a combined goal difference 11-2. At first, they defeated Albania at home, 4-1, before jumping to San Marino to obliterate the rivals with 1-7. Even though San Marino isn’t the kind of team that presents a challenge in the football world, you need to respect seven scored goals.

Poland doesn’t have any troubles when it comes to netting goals, but on the other side, they are more than fragile in defense because this unit easily allows goals, something several during one game. After all, it was why they suffered elimination from the recent EURO.

Just two matches in the past 10 Lewa and the boys played didn’t end under 2.5 goals, while on the other side, the Poles have managed to keep clean sheets in a single one (against Andorra).

England (-160) is perfect in Group I with five wins in five games and a total goal difference of 17-1. That sole goal came at Wembley against Poland, but we’ll talk more about that in the “head to head” section of the article.

Their latest two games ended with the exact same result, 4-0. At first, England defeated Hungary in Budapest before getting back home to take down Andorra. Now they have to fly to Central Europe again to meet arguably the toughest opponent in the group.

We don’t have to say again what is Southgate’s strategy here. He plays tough football, emphasizing the defensive tasks and the protection of his own goal. England’s goals are mostly coming following fast counter-attacks and set pieces.

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The hosts have all the players at disposal, with Bednarek and Glik coming back in the starting lineup.

Tyrone Mings is out due to a yellow card suspension. Jadon Sancho is also unavailable.

Head to Head Games

The Poles are without a win against England since 1973. That says enough. In the most recent game, played in March at Wembley, England won 2-1. Both sides were tied until five minutes before the end when Hary Maguire struck, earning three points for his country.

Prediction

This is going to be a low-efficient match, because of England’s play style. Southgate always sets up a strong defense, especially in important encounters, and we don’t see why that wouldn’t be the case on Wednesday night. Although Poland’s attack operates pretty efficiently, they won’t have too many chances for scoring against one of the best defensive lines on the continent. For us, this is a clear Under 2.5 goal.

Pick: Under 2.5 goals -130