Poland v Argentina: Leaders still in danger
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Poland v Argentina betting tips, predictions and odds
Poland lead Group C heading into the final round of matches but are still in danger of being eliminated when they face one of the tournament favourites in Argentina.
Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Mexico got their campaign back on track and another win here would see them win the group and leave Poland sweating on the result of the Saudi Arabia v Mexico game.
Wednesday’s match at Stadium 974 kicks off at 7pm and is live on the BBC.
Messi can be main man again
Argentina’s World Cup flame flickered on as moments of class from Lionel Messi and substitute Enzo Fernandez settled a bad-tempered clash against Mexico on Saturday night.
The South Americans suffered a shock 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their opening game but brought themselves back into last-16 contention with victory at the Lusail Stadium.
Paris St Germain superstar Messi, at 35 playing in what is his fifth and surely final World Cup, ignited Argentina with a long-range strike 19 minutes into the second half, and Benfica midfielder Fernandez made sure with a sublime curler three minutes from the end of normal time.
The South Americans still need a win to leapfrog Poland and be certain of going through, but Argentina winning odds of 4/9 show they are firm favourites to do so.
“We felt eager to turn the situation around,” said Messi. “Luckily we won and that was a weight off our shoulders, and we have the peace of mind that it is all down to us again.
“I think the first half was difficult due to the situation and our need to win, we couldn’t find spaces, we weren’t moving the ball from side to side, but that was normal given our situation.
“In the second half we started playing our game, and started doing what we stand for. Long possession, finding space between the lines, then the goal changed the game.”
Messi has scored in both games so far and 13/10 for him to net again in a victory looks decent value in the Poland v Argentina odds.
Coral have plenty of other options involving Messi, who is 13/5 to open the scoring for a third successive match while an Argentina win and Messi to have two or more shots on target is 11/8 in the #YourCall market.
Low-scoring game could suit all
Poland head into their final match as underdogs but could afford to lose and still progress to the last 16, hence their World Cup Group C odds of 2/5 to go through.
A narrow defeat may see them finish second on goal difference so, depending on how the other game is going, both teams may settle for what they have if Argentina take the lead.
With that in mid, the Copa America champions to win and under 2.5 goals is added to our Poland v Argentina betting tips at 21/10, while Messi’s men to win by exactly one goal is 23/10.
For bigger World Cup betting odds, a 1-0 win for Argentina can be backed at 9/2.
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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication
