Thanks to the fact that Denmark has had a tremendously dull run in World Cup qualifying, the door is open for both Poland and Montenegro to claim spots in Russia in 2018. Sunday's match in Podgorica is a huge opportunity for the Poles to effectively punch a ticket to the World Cup at the halfway point of qualifying, and that would be a huge accomplishment for one of the budding soccer programs in Europe.
At 3:45 p.m. ET, tune into FOX Sports 2 for live television coverage of this World Cup Qualifying match on Sunday, March 26, 2017, at City Stadium.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Montenegro +340
Poland -110
Draw +240
Over/Under 2
Odds Analysis
It's essentially a 50/50 proposition as to whether Poland will or will not get all three points from this match. Even getting one point would be considered a huge triumph against what might be the most challenging team to its throne in Group E, but all three would be the coup of coups. The Poles are set at -110 on the moneyline and are a coin flip on the Asian Handicap at -0.5.
The total of 2 with -130 vig on the over is a telling sign of what could be a slog of a match. That said, keep in mind that Poland is averaging 3.75 total goals per match thus far in qualifying, while Montenegro is at 3.25.
How They've Performed
It's hard to complain about much of anything that either of these teams have done thus far in Group E, and neither one will be upset with their performances in totality. The Poles have picked up 10 out of a possible 12 points, the only hiccup coming on the road against Kazakhstan. Sure, that one match in a bubble was a huge disappointment considering the fact that the Kazakhs sit at the bottom of this group and are the only ones without a win in these first four matches, but again, wins over Demark and Armenia at home and Romania on the road are great accomplishments.
Montenegro has seven points and is in second place at the moment, a spot which would put it in the home-and-home playoff against another second place team. The team has played three away matches against just one here at home though, so even a loss at Armenia isn't going to put a damper on this squad with fixtures against all of the toughest teams in this group at home left to play.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
This Montenegro team really has a long way to go. The club has never qualified on its own for a major tournament, and Euro 2016 qualifying was marred by an ugly incident in which a match was abandoned and forfeited against Russia. This, as a result, could end up qualifying as the biggest match the team has ever played here at home. This is the moment that Stevan Jovetic really has to come alive. He has 19 goals in 44 matches for his team, and for everything he has done well for Sevilla, this would be his crowning moment.
For Poland, the goal is going to be to get the ball into Robert Lewandowski as much as possible. We're not sure that it's going to have that opportunity against a team that is going to pack in at the back and leave at least nine behind the ball at basically all times.
Will there be a moment of brilliance? Why not? We'd rather take a shot with the half ball with Montenegro in the biggest match in its history instead of playing it outright, but we wouldn't be stunned if it moved to the top of Group E by taking a tremendous three points.
World Cup Qualifying Odds: Montenegro 1, Poland 0
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