Betting Previews & Tips - Nov 26 - World Cup 2022

We’re now onto the second round of group games at this renewal of FIFA’s main event, and it will be another big day of World Cup football on Saturday when eight teams will look to either improve or build on their opening game fortunes.

For bettors, there are two games from both Group C and Group D to get stuck into.

The Argentinians will look to bounce back after their shock defeat on match-day one, while both Poland and Mexico go in search of a first win too. If Saudi Arabia, who are the unexpected leaders of Group C, can avoid defeat, then they’re likely to put one foot in the next round, which just a few days ago seemed massively unlikely.

In Group D, the Danes will look to improve on what was a relatively underwhelming performance on match-day one, while the Tunisians must be hopeful of picking up all three points after delivering a rather swashbuckling effort. Current champions France know that another win puts them through, while the Australians need to get something to stay in the fight for a place in the knockout rounds.

Best Sites to Bet on the 2022 World Cup

Tunisia vs Australia

Odds:

• Tunisia 2.10
• Australia 3.75
• Draw 3.25

The first game of the day sees Tunisia take on Australia at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah.

Going up against a Danish side that reached the semi-finals of the European Championships last summer, little was expected from Tunisia on match-day one, though despite being priced as big as 6.50 in the betting beforehand, the Carthage Eagles held strong and arguably had the better chances to win on their way to draw 0-0.

In contrast, the Australians did nothing but hold strong. They did, of course, take a shock lead against France, but it wasn’t long before normality resumed. Overall, they were played off the park by a far superior team. Facing Tunisia is a less stiff task, but they’ll need to defend better if they’re to get anything from this game.

After putting up a really strong fight against the Danish and after coming close to scoring on a few occasions, the Tunisians will fancy themselves to overpower the Aussies here, and it’s easy to see that happening. Prior to the tournament, Tunisia beat some useful sides, such as Japan, Iran, and Chile, scoring seven goals and conceding zero in the process. The sturdy defending that they showed against the Danes can help build the foundations for a win against an Australian team that lacks both the defensive strength and overall quality to compete at this tournament.

The Aussies went to Qatar from down under, and unless they offer a lot more at both ends of the pitch, which seems unlikely in all honesty, they’ll be going down and out of Group D after just two matches.

Score Prediction: 2-0 Tunisia

Betting Tips:

Tunisia to Win @ 2.10

Bookmaker: Betway Sports

Poland vs Saudi Arabia

Odds:

• Poland 1.70
• Saudi Arabia 5.00
• Draw 3.50

Next up on Saturday, it’s Poland vs Saudi Arabia. After their win against Argentina, the Saudis may now be seen as competitive by far more people, but we shouldn’t overreact to that result.

Yes, they fought incredibly hard for their win, and they showed some resilience, but they also profited from lots of luck. But for a few mistimed runs and some poor execution, Argentina would’ve been 4-0 up at half-time in that game, so let’s not get carried away.

Against Mexico, Poland didn’t offer a tremendous amount offensively, opting to keep things tight first and foremost, and they did that. Defensively, they looked relatively sound, so much so that they should have enough about them to keep the Saudi Arabians at bay.

This game is likely to come down to who has more quality in the final third, and with Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, who disappointingly missed from the spot in search of his first World Cup goal against Mexico, leading their line, the Poles have the edge in that sense.

As we saw before the tournament when they beat both Wales and Chile by a goal to nil, the Poles have the ability to grind out wins against inferior opposition, and they’re fancied to record a much-needed low-key victory against a team that sits 25 places below them in the FIFA Rankings.

Score Prediction: 2-0 Poland

Betting Tips:

Poland to Win & Under 3.5 Goals @ 2.38

Bookmaker: Casumo

France vs Denmark

Odds:

• France 1.75
• Denmark 5.00
• Draw 3.75

The third game of the day sees France take on Denmark at Stadium 974, the first-ever temporary stadium to grace the FIFA World Cup.

The French did what everybody knew they would on match day one. Despite an early scare, they dismantled a lesser Australian team and recorded an easy win. No surprises there.

Conversely, Denmark failed to confirm strong favouritism. They huffed and puffed but could not blow the Tunisian house down. Instead, they laboured their way to a 0-0 draw without ever really threatening.

Strangely, though, the Danes could be more suited to playing against the French. They’ve got pace and can certainly hurt on the break, so against a team that is likely to attack plenty, we could see a better offensive showing from the Danes, who scored twice against France just two months ago. In fact, they’ve beaten Les Bleus twice already in 2022.

In September, the French lost by two goals to nil in Copenhagen, though the scoreline didn’t exactly tell the whole story. Deschamps’s men had plenty of chances and, on a different night, would’ve scored a couple of goals. It would be perhaps foolish to expect them to draw a blank on this occasion, especially after sharpening their attacking tools on match-day weapons.

As mentioned above, the Danes should enjoy playing against this sort of opponent much more, and we could see a much closer game than the early odds suggest. From a betting point of view, the play looks to be Both Teams to Score. Twice this year this pair have created plenty against each other, so expect both to get on the scoresheet.

Score Prediction: 1-1 Draw

Betting Tips:

Both Teams to Score @ 2.10

Bookmaker: Bodog

Argentina vs Mexico

Odds

• Argentina 1.53
• Mexico 7.50
• Draw 4.00

Saturday’s final fixture sees Argentina and Mexico both go in search of their first win at Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail.

Against Poland, Mexico played reasonably well on match-day one. They adopted a high-intensity approach and were certainly the ones that tried to win the game the most. However, they lacked a cutting edge in the final third, and that’s worrying ahead of a match against an Argentinian team that has plenty to offer offensively.

Sure, we saw Argentina come unstuck against the Saudi’s first time out, but it’s really not worth reading too much into that. On another day, the men in blue and white would’ve been four goals to the good before the break. The expected goals totals from that game, which read 2.27 to 0.14 in favour of Argentina, says it all.

Moreover, it’s easy to feel that this Argentinian team is more suited to playing against tougher opposition. Before the World Cup, they were unbeaten for over two years, and during that time, they’ve come up against and conquered some of the best, including Brazil, Uruguay and the current European champions, Italy.

For my money, this is a relatively straightforward win for the Argentinians. Mexico looked severely lacking in end-product against Poland, which will be a huge problem against the South American champions, who won’t misfire twice in a row. After all, they’ve won each of their three games against Mexico since 2018, winning 2-0. 2-0 and 4-0.

In the betting, ‘Argentina to Win & Over 2.5 Goals’ looks good. Again, don’t be fooled by the fact that they only scored once last time out. The Mexicans aren’t renowned for their defensive prowess. Both Sweden and Colombia scored multiple goals against them in the lead-up to the World Cup, while Lionel Messi & Co. notched three or more in five straight games ahead of their trip to Qatar.

A secondary option is ‘Lautaro Martinez to Score Anytime’. The dynamic and direct forward wrongly had a goal disallowed for offside against Saudi Arabia, which is somewhat ludicrous given the inclusion of VAR, but that’s another story altogether.

With the right service, Martinez can be deadly in front of goal, which is why he’s notched 28 goals in his last 50 league appearances for Inter Milan. He also has nine goals in his last 18 for Argentina, while he has averaged an eye-catching 0.58 xG and 3.87 shots per 90 minutes in the last year.

Score Prediction: Argentina 3-0 Mexico

Betting Tips:

Argentina to Win & Over 2.5 Goals @ 2.60

Lautaro Martinez to Score Anytime @ 2.88

Bookmaker: BetOnline