Poland v Wales betting tips: Page boys have eyes on bigger prize
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Preview, odds and Poland v Wales betting tips
Wales start their Nations League campaign in Poland on Wednesday but their main focus is on the winner of the World Cup play-off between Scotland and Ukraine being played on the same night.
Rob Page’s men will play the winner of that semi-final at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday as they look to feature at the World Cup finals for the first time in 64 years.
The Poles are the 4/5 favourites to win in Warsaw, so let’s look at some of the main talking points in our Poland v Wales betting tips.
Poland v Wales form
Wales finished runners-up to Belgium in their World Cup qualification group, a point clear of Czech Republic which ensured they got a home draw in their play-off semi-final.
Gareth Bale proved to be the hero once more as his two stunning strikes secured a 2-1 victory against Austria but the war in Ukraine meant the other semi-final was delayed until this week, so it has been a waiting game for the Welsh to discover their opponents.
Page named a 27-man squad for the play-off decider and four Nations League matches against Poland, Netherlands (twice) and Belgium in June, so it’s a hectic period for Wales, who have Bale and Aaron Ramsey available.
Bale barely featured for Real Madrid in his final season at the Bernabeu but made a couple of substitute appearances against Chelsea and Getafe last month, recovering from a back injury to take his place on the bench for the Champions League final triumph against Liverpool.
😁 @FAWales 🏴 pic.twitter.com/xaBE7u3pHj
— Aaron Ramsey (@aaronramsey) May 29, 2022
Page revealed he is likely to rest key players like Bale, Ramsey and Joe Allen with Sunday’s match in mind.
He said: “It’s risk and reward. The biggest game we’ve got is on Sunday and that’s no disrespect to Poland whatsoever. We’re going to show them complete respect, but we’d be mad to jeopardise our top, top players.”
With that in mind, Wales lack appeal at 9/2 to beat a Polish side that got a free run to the play-off final following the expulsion of Russia.
A Robert Lewandowski penalty early in the second half put them in control against Sweden and Piotr Zielinski took advantage of a mistake from Marcus Danielson to set up a one-on-one which he converted with aplomb to seal a 2-0 victory and a spot in Qatar.
Poland, of course, finished runners-up in England’s group, losing their final match 2-1 at home to Hungary to end their slim hopes of automatic qualification.
Five days before their win against Sweden, the Poles played Scotland in a friendly at Hampden Park where a controversial stoppage-time penalty earned the visitors a 1-1 draw.
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 @ChampionsLeague @GarethBale11 👏#TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/WzXWY0dDrP
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) May 28, 2022
Lewandowski was left on the bench for that game but may feature from the beginning on Wednesday as Poland look to make a good start in the Nations League and get vital preparation ahead of the World Cup.
Wales drew 1-1 with Czech Republic in a friendly at the end of March and that’s probably the best they can hope for in Warsaw. A draw is priced at 12/5 but Poland to win and under 3.5 goals looks a better bet at 5/4.
The Poles have lost just one of their last nine matches and they are likely to extend that run against a potentially weakened team.
Here we go…#TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/OWEwilpupQ
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) May 23, 2022
Draw HT/Poland FT can be backed at 3/1 while the hosts to win to nil is 13/8 in our Poland v Wales betting tips.
Poland to win both halves, score over 2.5 goals in the match and keep a clean sheet is available at 10/1 while on the flip side the Eagles are 12/5 to win either 1-0 or 2-0.
Poland v Wales head to head
These teams last met 13 years ago when Bale played in a 1-0 friendly defeat in Portugal attended by just 487 supporters.
Their last competitive match came in qualification for the 2006 World Cup in Germany when Poland beat Wales by one-goal margins home and away but still finished runners-up to England.
Poland have now won the last four meetings with Wales by one goal and are 23/10 to make it a fifth.
Poland v Wales team news
Poland boss Czeslaw Michniewicz is expected to name a strong side led by Lewandowski up front.
Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash started the win against Sweden and could earn his fifth international cap with Poland.
Ipswich winger Wes Burns and Cardiff centre-back Oli Denham were added to the Wales squad following the withdrawal of striker Nathan Broadhead and could get some game time.
Page is expected to wrap Bale, Ramsey and Allen in cotton wool and is likely to field an experimental side which will not include Brennan Johnson, who is being rested following his exertions with Nottingham Forest in the Championship play-off final.
However, Huddersfield winger Sorba Thomas has travelled following his Wembley play-off disappointment.
Page said: “Sorba is slightly different to Brennan, he’s not played as many minutes and had as much football.”
Goalscorer odds
Lewandowski, who has told Bayern Munich he wants to leave amid rumours he is set to join Barcelona, is the 15/8 favourite to break the deadlock and just 3/4 to get on the scoresheet in our Poland v Wales betting tips.
The 33-year-old striker had another glorious season for the German champions, scoring 48 goals in the Bundesliga and Champions League combined.
Krzysztof Piatek, who scored the equaliser in Glasgow, is 9/2 and 2/1 in the two markets while Arkadiusz Milik is 11/2 and 5/2.
Bale is the 6/1 favourite to get the ball rolling from the Wales contingent and 13/5 to score but he is unlikely to play, so Kieffer Moore looks a better option at 15/2 and 10/3.
Match Info
Where: Stadion Wroclaw, Warsaw
When: 19:45, Wednesday 1st June
How to watch: Premier Sports 1/S4C
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
