World Cup Qualifying: Poland v Denmark Betting Tips

This match is Group E’s two top dogs go up against each other, although we must not totally discount Euro 2016 participants Romania. But, simply put, whoever wins this throws down the gauntlet to the other.

Poland got their World Cup qualification campaign off to a pretty bad start as they dropped two points away in Kazakhstan. After being 2-0 up at half time they conceded two in the second half – leaving the former Soviet republic with just a point. This match at home to Denmark is a chance to correct that but the pressure is now really on if they want to secure automatic qualification for Russia in just under two years time.

Despite a relatively disappointing Euros, where they were considered outsiders for the tournament, manager Adam Nawalka remains in charge and he has kept his faith in most of the squad he took to France in the summer. As they have previously, the likes of captain Robert Lewandowski along with Łukasz Piszczek, Jakub Błaszczykowski and Grzegorz Krychowiak will be key players throughout this campaign.

Another striker who sometimes goes under the radar given they have Lewandowski up front is Arkadiusz Milik. After a sensational two years at Ajax where he scored 47 goals in just 75 appearances, the 22-year-old made the switch to Napoli to replace Gonzalo Higuain who moved to Juventus. The Pole could not have made much of a better start to his career in Italy with four goals in seven Serie A appearances (although they were two braces) and even more impressively, he has already found the net three times in just two Champions League games.

With most of his career still ahead of him, Milik could become one of the best strikers in Europe if he continues his current form and I would certainly back him to score here.

1992 European Championship winners Denmark failed to qualify for Euro 2016, losing out in the play-offs to Scandinavian rivals Sweden, which means they have not made a tournament since the 2012 Euros where they finished third in Group B. However, with a number of exciting young players coming through in the form of Pione Sisto, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Viktor Fischer along with already established players like Christian Eriksen, perhaps there is light at the end of this dark tunnel in the history of Danish football.

Unfortunately for Denmark, their downfall in qualification campaigns has been their away form. Whilst they tend to get the job done against the smaller sides, they struggle to pick up any points against the bigger European sides which, ultimately, by landing them in tough play-off encounters, always costs them in the end.

This failure to qualify for tournaments of course means they drop through the rankings and their seeding falls with it – meaning they get tougher groups in each qualification campaign. Having said that, they will feel confident of coming through this group if their young talent live up to their potential.

They at least started their campaign for Russia 2018 with a win but could still only manage a 1-0 win against Armenia.

A point away in Poland would be a fantastic result for Åge Hareide’s (who is actually Norwegian) side.

Having said this, the poles are strong at home and they’ll come out on top here. The hosts will be keen to rectify that bad draw in Kazakhstan by picking up maximum points here and I would back them to do so against this inexperienced Danish side.

See more tips here.