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American-football France vs Poland Bet Builder Tips: 2.20 Builder for French Win
France vs Poland Bet Builder Tips: Sunday, December 4th
I have pored over the stats from the group stage of the 2022 World Cup to bring you my France vs Poland bet builder tips. The Al Thumama Stadium plays host as Les Bleus take on the Eagles. The winners will book their place in the quarter finals to take on either England or Senegal.
In this article:
France vs Poland Preview
World Cup Round of 16, Sunday, December 4th, 15:00 (UK)
Defending champions France ended their group stage games with a 1-0 defeat to Tunisia. Following 4-1 and 2-1 victories over Australia and Denmark respectively on matchdays 1 and 2, the hard work had already been done.
Didier Deschamps made nine changes to the starting 11 with only Raphael Varane and Aurelien Tchouameni also starting against the Danes. The French have now used 24 players at this tournament, the most a team has ever used in World Cup history. Even with such a heavily rotated side, Deschamps would have been disappointed with the disjointed display he witnessed. That blow was softened by progression to the round of 16 with France finishing as Group D winners.
Poland survived a nerve-jangling last few minutes on Wednesday night to claim their place in the last 16. At one point progressing at the expense of Mexico only by virtue of their superior disciplinary record.
In the end, it was a player who will never feature for the Poles, Salem Aldawsari, whose strike in added time secured the spot in the knockout stages for the first time since 1986. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny crucially saved a Lionel Messi penalty just before half time. He then had to watch his teammates put more focus on not picking up a yellow card then scoring a consolation goal. How did he describe the game? “It was dreadful, awful and wonderful.” It made for a thrilling end to Group C for the neutral. Now after only a couple of days to recover, it is on to the world champions.
France vs Poland Stats & Facts
- France have become the first reigning World Cup champion to reach the knockout stages since Brazil in 2006. The last reigning champion to go out at the Round of 16 stage were Italy in 1986, who lost 2-0 to France.
- This will be the third time that Poland have faced the reigning champions in a World Cup tournament, while they have avoided defeat in each of the previous two – 1-0 v Brazil in 1974 and 0-0 v Germany in 1978.
- Since the Round of 16 was introduced in the 1986 World Cup, France have appeared at this stage on five occasions and progressed from all five ties (1986, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018). The only other nation to appear at this stage more than France and progress each time are Germany (8/8)
- Antoine Griezmann has created more chances than any other France player at the 2022 World Cup (11). Indeed, the only player to create 10+ in either of the last two World Cup tournaments for France has been Griezmann, while he’s already surpassed his total from 2018 when they lifted the trophy (10).
France vs Poland Bet Builder
Didier Deschamps is a winner. He is one of only two men to lead their country to World Cup glory as both captain and manager. Despite his heavy rotation against Tunisia and the fact his side were assured top spot, he wanted to win that game.
The point was proven when he threw on Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele in a bid to rescue the game. Griezmann almost did that with the last kick of the match only to be thwarted by VAR. Possibly a change or two too many led to a very off-colour performance and ended Les Bleus’ six-match winning streak at the World Cup. One short of Italy’s record.
The positive spin to that, of course, is a rested and refreshed starting 11 that can take advantage of what should be a drained Polish side. Strength in depth is certainly an asset France has. It is good those on the fringes have some tournament minutes in their legs. We can certainly draw a line through the form of the Tunisia defeat. There will be minimal tinkering and experimentation here and so expect a full-strength France lining up at the Al Thumama Stadium.
I am laying the foundations of this builder by simply siding with France to win. They will have too much for a Polish side that can be considered lucky to have escaped their group. Arguably second-best in the games against both Mexico and Saudi Arabia before being outclassed by Argentina.
Robert Lewandowski finally got his first World Cup goal when netting against the Saudis but has cut a frustrated peripheral figure on international duty for some time now. He was asked after the final group game that it seemed difficult for both himself and the team as a whole. Not having the opportunity to play but just to run. The Barcelona superstar described himself to goal.pl as “the first defender” adding ominously “when you play for the Polish national team, you can’t expect many goalscoring chances.”
Lewandowski went on to describe this game as “another great challenge for us. And we need to play better than today.” His rallying cry for Poland to “play more boldly” and that “we can’t be scared of the ball.” is likely to fall on deaf ears. To have one of the generation’s most deadly and prolific strikers describing his role as “more in the midfielder position” must dismay all Polish fans.
France will be too good but with Wojciech Szczesny in top form, I am taking the safe option of just a straight win. Szczesny has a 90% save percentage at the tournament and had saved each of his first 16 shots on target faced in the group prior to Alexis Mac Allister’s goal for Argentina. The Juventus stopper has saved a penalty in each of his last two games at the World Cup, while no goalkeeper on record has ever stopped three penalties in a single edition of the tournament (since 1966, excluding shootouts). He will certainly need to bring his A game with one of the most fearsome forwards lining up for the opposition.
Having just chased Lionel Messi, or more so his shadow, around Stadium 974, the last person you want to face is his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe. With three goals and an assist, the 23-year-old has been one of the best players of the group stage. As a result, only Just Fontaine (13) has more World Cup goals for France than Mbappe’s seven. He also scored twice in the round of 16 in 2018 against Argentina.
However, with a goalkeeper in such good form aiming to prevent addition to that tally I am taking a safer option. Mbappe has fired 16 shots across the three group games. That is nine more and five more on target than any of his teammates at this year’s World Cup. Remember he only made a 27-minute cameo against the Tunisians and still had 3 attempts at goal. In total his 16 shots have come from just 207 minutes of action. Incredibly that equates to one every 13 minutes. Spread over a full 90 minutes that would be a fraction under seven shots per game.
My final leg relates to corners. Simply put, France will dominate all aspects of this game. Certainly by way of possession and time spent in the attacking third. France have taken 22 corners in their three group games, facing just 12. Having more than each of their opponents. In contrast, Poland have taken only 10 flag kicks whilst conceding 20. Their opponents winning the corner count in all three fixtures. France to win most corners is a safe way to complete this builder and make it odds against.
- France to Win
- Kylian Mbappé Over 3.5 Shots
- France Most Corners
Bet Builder odds: 2.20
Odds via Unibet as at 09:30 December 2nd 2022. Odds may now differ.
