The following is a match centre with betting tips for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group H fixture between Poland and Senegal. The game kicks off on the 20th of June at 1:00 AM AEST. As part of a revised broadcast agreement, this fixture will be broadcast live on SBS.
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Poland
- FIFA World Rank: 8
- Elo Rating: 19
- Qualifying: Won Group E with a 8-1-1 record in the UEFA Confederation qualification.
Squad:
- Coach: Adam Nawałka
- Goalkeepers: Bartosz Bialkowski (Ipswich), Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea City), Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus)
- Defenders: Jan Bednarek (Southampton), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Thiago Cionek (SPAL), Kamil Glik (AS Monaco), Artur Jedrzejczyk (Legia Warszawa), Michal Pazdan (Legia Warszawa), Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund)
- Midfielders: Jakub Blaszczykowski (VfL Wolfsburg), Jacek Goralski (Ludogorets Razgrad), Kamil Grosicki (Hull City), Grzegorz Krychowiak (West Bromwich Albion), Rafal Kurzawa (Gornik Zabrze), Karol Linetty (Sampdoria), Slawomir Peszko (Lechia Gdansk), Maciej Rybus (Lok
- Forwards: Dawid Kownacki (Sampdoria), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli), Lukasz Teodorczyk (Anderlecht)
Recent results:
- Poland 4 – 0 Lithuania
12/06/2018
Friendly, played in Poland - Poland 2 – 2 Chile
08/06/2018
Friendly, played in Poland - Poland 3 – 2 South Korea
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in Poland - Poland 0 – 1 Nigeria
23/03/2018
Friendly, played in Poland - Poland 0 – 1 Mexico
13/11/2017
Friendly, played in Poland - Poland 0 – 0 Uruguay
10/11/2017
Friendly, played in Poland - Poland 4 – 2 Montenegro
08/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Poland - Armenia 1 – 6 Poland
05/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Armenia - Poland 3 – 0 Kazakhstan
04/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Poland - Denmark 4 – 0 Poland
01/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Denmark - Poland 3 – 1 Romania
10/06/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Poland - Montenegro 1 – 2 Poland
26/03/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Montenegro
Statistics: (last five years):
- H2H Record: 27-15-9
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 45-6
- O/U 1.5 record: 37-14
- O/U 2.5 record: 29-22
- O/U 3.5 record: 21-30
- O/U 4.5 record: 10-41
- O/U 5.5 record: 6-45
- Wins
- Total wins: 27
- Won by 1 goal: 11
- Won by 2 goals: 5
- Won by 3 goals: 3
- Won by 4 goals: 4
- Won by 5 goals: 2
- Won by 5+ goals: 2
- Won to nil 13
- Losses
- Total losses: 9
- Lost by 1 goal: 5
- Lost by 2 goals: 3
- Lost by 3 goals: 0
- Lost by 4 goals: 1
- Lost by 5 goals: 0
- Lost by 5+ goals: 0
- Lost to nil 7
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 51
- Clean Sheets: 19
- Held Scoreless: 13
- Both Teams Scored: 25
Senegal
- FIFA World Rank: 27
- Elo Rating: 35
- Qualifying: Won Group D with a 4-2-0 record in the CAF Third Round.
Squad:
- Coach: Aliou Cissé
- Goalkeepers: Khadim Ndiaye (Horoya AC), Abdoulaye Diallo (Rennes), Alfred Gomis (Torino)
- Defenders: Kara Mbodji (Anderlecht), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Moussa Wague (Eupen), Saliou Ciss (Angers), Youssouf Sabaly (Bordeaux), Lamine Gassama (Alanyaspor), Armand Traore (Nottingham Forest), Salif Sane (Hannover 96)
- Midfielders: Pape Alioune Ndiaye (Stoke), Idrissa Gueye (Everton), Cheikhou Kouyate (West Ham), Cheikh N'Doye (Birmingham)
- Forwards: Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Diao Balde Keita (Monaco), Ismaila Sarr (Rennes), Diafra Sakho (Rennes), Moussa Konate (Amiens), Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke), Mbaye Niang (AC Milan)
Recent results:
- South Korea 0 – 2 Senegal
11/06/2018
Friendly, played in Austria - Croatia 2 – 1 Senegal
08/06/2018
Friendly, played in Croatia - Luxembourg 0 – 0 Senegal
31/05/2018
Friendly, played in Luxembourg - Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 – 0 Senegal
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in France - Senegal 1 – 1 Uzbekistan
23/03/2018
Friendly, played in Morocco - Senegal 2 – 1 South Africa
14/11/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Senegal - South Africa 0 – 2 Senegal
10/11/2017
WC qualifiers, played in South Africa - Cape Verde 0 – 2 Senegal
07/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Cape Verde - Burkina Faso 2 – 2 Senegal
05/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Burkina Faso - Senegal 0 – 0 Burkina Faso
02/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Senegal - Senegal 3 – 0 Equatorial Guinea
10/06/2017
African Cup of Nations qualification, played in Senegal - Senegal 0 – 0 Uganda
05/06/2017
Friendly, played in Senegal
Statistics: (last five years):
- H2H Record: 30-18-7
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 49-6
- O/U 1.5 record: 43-12
- O/U 2.5 record: 19-36
- O/U 3.5 record: 10-45
- O/U 4.5 record: 1-54
- O/U 5.5 record: 1-54
- Wins
- Total wins: 30
- Won by 1 goal: 8
- Won by 2 goals: 18
- Won by 3 goals: 4
- Won by 4 goals: 0
- Won by 5 goals: 0
- Won by 5+ goals: 0
- Won to nil 20
- Losses
- Total losses: 7
- Lost by 1 goal: 4
- Lost by 2 goals: 3
- Lost by 3 goals: 0
- Lost by 4 goals: 0
- Lost by 5 goals: 0
- Lost by 5+ goals: 0
- Lost to nil 5
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 55
- Clean Sheets: 26
- Held Scoreless: 11
- Both Teams Scored: 24
Commentary
Poland enter the tournament on the back of a dominant qualifying performance in which they lost just one of their ten games. Striker Robert Lewandowski has been prolific for his country, scoring 16 goals during qualifying to take his tally for Poland to 55 goals in 95 fixtures. Poland have enjoyed good stability under coach Adam Nawałka, who has been at the helm since 2013. They have only lost 7 games out 47 under his tenure. Poland had a solid showing in Euro 2016, losing on penalties in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Portugal. This squad boasts a good amount of experience, with seven players boasting 50 or more caps. Despite all these positives and the fact that they’re the highest ranked side in Group H, most pundits predict they will fail to reach top spot in favour of Colombia, who have a higher Elo rating. Some concerns for Poland are they have only one clean sheet in their last six games, with two of their last three opponents scoring at least twice. Poland conceded 14 goals during 10 games of qualifying, which is by far the most of any European side that qualified for the tournament. While goal scorer Robert Lewandowski has been prolific against weaker sides, the jury is still out on his effectiveness for Poland against the top teams. He only managed 1 goal in Euro 2016. Key centre-back Kamil Glik has been struggling for fitness and at the time of writing it is still unsure whether he will participate in this fixture. A lot of how this game pans out could come down to whether he features.
Senegal make their first appearance in the World Cup since 2002, when they were surprise quarter-finalists. They have good quality in the squad, particularly going forward, including Liverpool striker Sadio Mane, who scored 20 goals for his club this season. The issue is that head coach Aliou Cissé has been criticised for not knowing how get the best out of the squad. Senegal won only one of their five warm up games, which weren’t against particularly strong opponents.
Betting
bet365 odds (subject to change):
Compare the latest bookmaker odds for Poland vs. Senegal
With both sides featuring potent offences and Poland featuring a questionable defence that could be without centre-back Kamil Glik, this fixture has the potential for a good number of goals. Nine of Poland’s last 12 fixtures went over 2.5 goals while over the past five years 43 out of Senegal’s 55 fixtures went over 1.5 goals.
Betting tip: back over 1.5 goals at 1.56 (Betfair)
Notes
- FIFA World rankings are from the 7th of June and sourced from https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html
- The World Football Elo Ratings are from the 11th of June and are based on the Elo rating system, developed by Dr. Arpad Elo. This system is used by the international chess federation to rate chess players and is considered by many to be a superior rating tool to the one used by FIFA. The ratings have been sourced from https://www.eloratings.net/.
- Squad lists sourced from http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12098/11374464/every-world-cup-squad-listed-argentina-brazil-russia-and-more