2018 World Cup Betting Prediction: Japan vs. Poland Odds
The Japanese enter this as slight favourites +144, but the Poles are playing for pride and would like to leave Russia with three points.
Japan vs. Poland Odds and Betting Analysis
World Cup Moneyline Odds: Japan +144
Date: Thursday, June 28, 10:00amET
Volgograd Arena, Volgogard, Russia
Poland and Japan have a fairly good international history against each other, having played six times. In those games, Poland has won four. However, the most recent game was 16 years ago in 2002 (Japan scoring a 2-0 win) so those stats are not relevant to this game. Japan has had a great tournament, scoring a win against group favourite Colombia (2-1) and coming back to draw with Senegal (2-2). They can now taste an opportunity to get past this stage where few if any thought it was a possibility ten days ago.
The tournament has been a colossal disappointment for Poland, and the result is sure to spark massive changes to the national team’s coaching staff. The over is priced at +104 while the under is paying -133 on the 2.5-goal total at Sports Interaction for Thursday’s match between Japan and Poland. Japan has conceded three goals against in two games, while Poland has allowed five in its two losses.
Japan
Although the tournament is far from over, it has been a successful one for Japan. Entering the World Cup there was plenty of turmoil with the national team, so much so that the federation changed the manager two months before the first game. But since that time, Akira Nishino has righted the ship, and entering this game has a legitimate shot at pushing his team past the group stage. An outright win will guarantee the Blue Samurai a spot to the last 16. At Sports Interaction, Yuya Osako +166 and Keisuke Honda +183 are the two players rated highest to score at any time in this game against Poland.
Poland
Star striker Robert Lewandowski probably said it best when he referred to his national team as “lacking the quality needed to progress” – a nice way of saying they were and should be embarrassed by their World Cup appearance. Poland entered the World Cup as the eighth ranked team in the World, and highest among the Group H competitors, but they are officially the first team knocked out of contention entering the third and final game of the group stage.
Poland made countless blunders that led to a 2-1 setback opening game against Senegal. From there, they were completely outclassed by Colombia 3-0 in a game where Poland had only two shots on target. Of note, Lewandowski, who scored 16 goals of Poland’s 28 scored in qualifying for the World Cup and has yet to score in this tournament, is paying -103 to score at any time during the game.
Japan vs. Poland Prediction
Japan 1 – Poland 1 (+211)
It’s not like Japan is a powerhouse soccer nation ready to dominate a Poland team who still possess one of the world’s great strikers. Lewandowski gets his first goal of the tournament in this game.
