Euro 2016 – Poland vs Portugal – Bet Tips

Poland vs Portugal – Prediction

poland-vs-portugal

Poland vs Portugal – Bet Tips & Analysis

Portugal Win – (2-1), For Poland they’ve already entered uncharted territory as far the European Championships are considered. Poland defensively are a strong team and if their attacking unit can also come to the party they’ll be a difficult team to beat. As for Portugal they haven’t been well playing but are getting the results required. Similar to their game against Croatia they’ll start as the underdogs but should find a way to win maybe via Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Fixture Overview

Match 45

Poland vs Portugal

Stade Velodrome, Marseille

9 P.M CET, 30-06-2016

Bet Tips – Poland vs Portugal

  • Portugal to Win – 2.30 (Paddypower)

Poland are the favorites going into the game. They’ve carried over their form from qualifying and are unbeaten till now & have conceded just 1 goal in 4 games. As for Portugal they need to raise their game. The Polish have been tough to breakdown but a early goal might change all that.

  • Both Teams to Score – 2.38 (William Hill)

The likes of Lewandowski & Cristiano Ronaldo are yet to play to their potential. Both teams have been defensively sound with Portugal’s one game against Hungry being an exception. This game will have goals in it and i expect either team to score atleast once if not more.

  • Over 2.5 Goals – 3.00 (William Hill)

As stated above goals are expected from both teams.

  • Anytime Goalscorer – Robert Lewandowski – 3.60 (Betvictor)

Ronaldo is the favorite to score according to bookies. Even though i expect Portugal to get the win i will continue backing Lewandowski till Poland are knocked out.

  • Highest Scoring Half – 2nd half – 2.30 (Sportingbet)

2nd half goals have been the trend through out this tournament with 52 of the 88 goals till coming in the 2nd half of Normal Time. The odds are good enough you might as well go with the trend.

Route to the Quarter’s

  • Poland qualified for the knockouts from Group C as the runners-up accumulating a total of 7 points. They won their group games against Northern Ireland and Ukraine 1-0 and held Germany to 0-0 draw. In fact Poland had the same number of points as Germany finished fell short of winning the group on virtue of Goal Difference.
  • In the round of 16’s they went up against Switzerland and after the game ended 1-1 in normal time & extra-time Poland won the game through Penalties(5-4).
  • Portugal qualified for the knockouts as one among the 4 best 3rd placed teams after having finished third in Group F behind Hungry & Iceland. They didn’t manage to pick up a single victory through the group stage drawing all their 3 games against Iceland (1-1), Austria (0-0) & Hungry (3-3).
  • Portugal went up against winners of Group D Croatia in the round of 16’s. The game remained 0-0 till the 117th minute of extra time before a Ricardo Quaresma headed come the winner.

Poland

Jakub-Blaszczykowski

The Dortmund winger has contributed to all three of Poland’s goals so far. (2 goals & 1 assist)

For a team that has never won a game in the European Championships heading into Euro 2016 Poland have already outdone themselves in reaching the Quarters. Despite their admirable run till now the possibility of a semi-final appearance looks very likely heading into their game against Portugal.

Before the start of the tournament it had been widely stated by both pundits and fans alike that Poland’s progression was directly depended on the form Bayern star Robert Lewandowski. The Bayern star who was the highest scorer of the competition during the qualifying stages with 13 goals has failed to find the back of the net so far.

Both Lewandowski and his striker partner Arkadiusz Milik have been guilty of missing chances and need to improve themselves against Portugal. The positive fact from their poor form has been that Poland have found other avenues to get the wins even when their big shots have failed.

The Polish defense has been brilliant till now and have let in just a single goal in 4 games. In fact the only goal they’ve conceded till now was from an almost unstoppable bicycle kick from Xherdan Shaqiri.

Thursday will see Poland facing Portugal for the 3rd time in a major tournament. Their previous two meetings came in the World Cup with Poland winning their 1986 World Cup tie 1-0 & Portugal winning the 2002 World Cup tie 4-0. Apart from Lewandowski being the top scorer in qualifying Poland had scored the most no.of goals by any team in qualifying with 33.

Midfielder Bartosz Kapustka who had missed Poland’s last game against Switzerland through suspension is set to return against Portugal. Wojciech Szczesny who had missed the last few games for Poland through a thigh injury is yet to completely recover and Fabianski will remain in goal.

Overall Bet Tips

  • Top Scorer
  1. Jakub Blaszczykowski – 1.33 (Bet 365)
  2. Arkadiusz Milik – 5.00 (Betvictor)
  3. Robert Lewandowski – 11.00 (Bet 365)

Jakub Blaszczykowski has been Poland’s unlikely attacking threat having scored two and assisted the third. Arkadiusz should have had 7-8 by this time but has been guilty of missing a bucket load of chances. As for Lewandowski i still do believe he’ll make an impact but may not overtake Blaszczykowski now.

  • Overall Finish/Stage of Elimination
  1. Quarter – 1.57 (Ladbrokes)
  2. Semi’s – 4.00 (Betfair)
  3. Runner-up – 8.50 (Bet 365)
  4. Winner – 19.00 (Bet 365)

I had backed Poland to reach the quarters from the start of the tournament & that’s where their journey will end. However the odds on offer for a semi final berth is good enough if you want to take a gamble.

  • Whether they’ll lose on Penalties
  1. Yes – 5.50 (Bet 365)
  2. No – 1.14 (Bet 365)

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Euro 2016 QF Predictions

Wales vs Belgium

Germany vs Italy

France vs Iceland

Portugal

Cristiano-Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is only player to have scored in four European Championships. He also holds the record for the most appearances in the championships (18). One more goal would tie him with Micheal Platini’s record of 9 championship goals. 

Thursday will see Portugal appearing in their 6th consecutive European championship quarterfinals and will be hoping this will finally be their year. Portugal have indeed been one of the most consistent performers in the Euro’s with 3 semi-final appearances and finishing as runners-up in Euro 2004 after a 1-0 defeat against Greece.

This arguably is Portugal’s weakest squad to compete in a major tournament in recent years yet here they are one game away from another Euro semi-final. They haven’t played to their potential till now failing to win a single game in the group stages and subsequently finishing only 3rd in what was supposed to be an easy group for them.

Like Lewandowski for Poland, Portugal have always been termed as a team depended on a single player that player being Cristiano Ronaldo. The 3-time Ballon d’Or winner despite his match saving brace against Hungry has yet to find his top form so far. After being kept quiet for most of the game against Croatia it was his rebounded shot on goal that Ricardo Quaresma converted to give Portugal the win.

Teenage sensation and Bayern Munich’s latest 35 million acquisition Renato Sanches has impressed so far with the highlight being his MOTM performance after coming off the bench against Croatia. Veteran Nani along with Ronaldo both of whom have two goals a piece to their name are Portugal’s top scorers till now.

Portugal have the upper hand in head to head records against Poland with 4 wins against Poland’s 3 in the 10 past meetings till now. Portugal have won 8 and drawn 3 of their 11 competitive fixtures under Fernando Santos.

Portugal do some fitness concerns heading into the game with the likes of Raphael Guerreiro and Joe Moutinho but apart from his have no major injury concerns.

Overall Bet Tips

  • Top Scorer
  1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 1.40 (Bet 365)
  2. Nani – 3.50 (Paddypower)
  3. Ricardo Quaresma – 17.00 (Ladbrokes)

Ronaldo & Nani have two goals a piece to their name while Quaresma has one. Ronaldo should come to the fray against Poland and i expect him to pull away from the others against Poland.

  • Overall Finish/Stage of Elimination
  1. Quarter – 2.40 (Paddypower)
  2. Semi’s – 3.00 (Bet 365)
  3. Runner-up – 5.00 (Bet 365)
  4. Winner – 8.00 (Bet 365)

Even if they are to get the better of Poland they’ll tournament will end in the Semi’s against either Wales or Belgium.

  • Whether they’ll lose on Penalties
  1. Yes – 4.50 (Bet 365)
  2. No – 1.18 (Bet 365)

Last Meeting

The last time these two teams met was in a friendly in 2012 at Warsaw and the match ended in 0-0 draw.

Final Verdict

On form Poland are the favorites but the Portugal team are unlikely to make an impact sooner rather than later. Portugal should win this game to book a spot in the semi’s where their journey will end at the hands of Wales.