Poland vs. Sweden Predictions: Lewandowski to fire the Poles to Qatar

Poland take on Sweden on Tuesday, and the stakes could not be higher. A spot in the first ever World Cup to take place in the winter awaits the winner, and both teams have had a very different build up to this game.

Sweden overcame Czech Republic last week to secure their spot in the final qualifying round, with the match goalless at the end of regulation time. Robin Quaison scored the only goal of the game deep into extra time to ensure his side progressed. There was very little to separate the two sides and this is reflected in the statistics of the match. Both teams managed 10 shots overall, 2 of them on target each.

Poland were scheduled to play Russia to earn their place in the final qualifier, but the awful situation in that part of Europe meant that they automatically progressed because of the sanctions placed on Russia. Poland instead played out a 1-1 draw in a friendly with Scotland to get some minutes under their belt, and they will be thankful that they didn’t have to play out a gruelling 120 minutes of football like Tuesday’s opponents.

Poland are spearheaded by Robert Lewandowksi. The striker has been scoring for fun in recent years and he will be keen to ensure he is playing in Qatar come November. Lewandowski scored 6 goals in his 3 games prior to reporting for international duty, and the player was rested for the friendly against Scotland, so he will be chomping at the bit to get going here.

Poland are priced up as favourites here, and the home advantage should mean they spend large periods of the game on the front foot. This should translate into them having a fair number of attempts on goal.

Poland are averaging over 14 shots per game in their last 10 matches in all competitions and the importance of this game should see them continue that trend here. Sweden’s opponents are averaging 11.9 shots per game in their last 10 matches, so both of these stats bode well for our bet here.

In Sweden’s last 10 away matches, their opponents have hit the required shot mark in 7 of them, the exceptions were Georgia, Kosova and Russia.

The teams met in the group stages of the European Championships last summer; on that occasion, Poland managed 18 shots.

The previously mentioned meeting between these sides at the Euro’s saw 5 goals in the match and I think this game could open up in a similar way after an initial cagey period. Poland are averaging 2.7 goals per game in their last 10 matches and they average 2.4 goals in their last 5 home matches. With Lewandowksi in red hot form, I expect them to find the net a couple of times here.

Poland had a whopping 10 corners in the last meeting between the sides and they are averaging over 6 corners per game in their last 10 matches. Sweden’s opponents are averaging over 5 corners per game in their last 10 matches.