Winner of group of Group D, France, take on runners-up in group C, Poland, at the AI Thumama Stadium. France are the heavy hitter in this contest despite their defeat against Tunisia in the last game, and they will line up against a somewhat subdued Poland side. The Polish side has their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny to thank for numerous outstanding saves to catapult them outside the group and into the knockout stage.
Looking at the FIFA rankings, Poland is ranked in 26th place whilst France, who are the reigning World Champions are in fourth place. This will be the second time that these two countries are facing each other in the knockout stage; the other time was back in 1982 when Poland won 3-2 in the third-place playoff. A similar result will surely stun us all and mark itself as one of the biggest shocks of the tournament.
LV BET will be previewing most of the FIFA World Cup games, so make sure to check our LV BET Sports Blog to get your daily betting tips on what’s to come from the Qatar FIFA World Cup.
FRANCE
A lot of people criticised Didier Dechamps’ team selection for the game against Tunisia, as the whole team was changed from previous games. The truth is that the changed selection did not perform as Dechamps thought it would and that gives him a good outlook for the upcoming games. Looking ahead to the game against Poland, the French will fancy their chances against a relatively slow back line who will surely be vulnerable against Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.
Despite the odds heavily favouring a win for France, as we saw in other matches, the underdog is performing better than expected. So the French team need to be on the money to be able to secure their passage to the quarter-finals. The football show against Australia and Denmark was trademark France; great link-up play in the middle of the park, overloading the wings and then cutting it back or crossing it in the box for Oliver Giroud to head home. Keep an eye out for those late runs from Adrien Rabiot, who has made a habit of it this season with his club Juventus. Adrien Rabiot to score anytime during the game is at 7/2 (4.50)
France to win to nil is priced 4/5 (1.80)
France to win with a handicap of -1.00 at 4/5 (1.80)
France to score in both halves at 21/20 (2.05)
Kylian Mbappe to score anytime during the match is priced at 5/7 (1.72)
POLAND
A very tense end to the game against Argentina with some great defending to keep the score to a minimum was crucial to making it out of the group. Despite not being impressive in the group games, Poland will need to find that extra gear to stand a chance against France. An aspect of the game that they lacked is the link-up play with Robert Lewandowski, which he does so greatly for his club FC Barcelona.
Another aspect that might need to change is the approach that Czeslaw Michniewicz takes to the game. In the game against Argentina, he was happy to lose the game but minimise the damage; now that his team are in the knockout stage, one would expect them to come out of their shell a bit more and give it a go.
Both teams to score is at 22/15 (2.47)
Poland to score first in the game at 21/5 (5.20)
Poland to win either half at 14/3 (5.65)
Register and benefit from best odds with LV BET
Get your hands on some tasty odds, France to win at 3/10 (1.30) with Poland to cause havoc and win at 11/1 (12.00) and a draw at 23/5 (5.60).
LV BET
Keep up to date and informed about the latest FIFA World Cup and betting markets this week with LV BET.
Tune in to the LV BET Sports blog to find out more information about live sports, as well as the exciting online world of esports, and stay informed about the biggest sports events from around the world.
*Odds subject to change. Odds correct at time of publishing