@BurrOaks77's World Cup Picks: France vs Poland - 12/4

BurrOaks77 is writing DAILY articles during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, right here on FlashPicks.com. Check out his picks for Wednesday's games below and if you're unsure on any of the terminology or markets be sure to read our quick and simple Soccer Betting Guide!

Poland scraped into the knockout rounds on a “card accumulation” tie breaker with Mexico. They will have to show a lot more fight against France, than they did against Argentina. Poland managed to put up 0 shots on target against Argentina. A little embarrassing in my opinion, but they were not in a must win position. I can’t fault a team for doing the minimum to advance, but it also doesn't inspire much confidence. Dribbling through this French midfield won’t be an easier task. Getting service into the box for Lewandowski is going to be tough. Lewandowski will be the focal point for both teams. Poland will want to feed him balls in a dangerous position, and France will have to mark him on every set piece. I don’t know how much offense Poland will be able to produce. I will likely split one unit on Lewa anytime goal, one SOT, and shots.

For France, I would strongly recommend using the FlashPicks +100 anytime goal scorer boost with Draft Kings on Kylian Mbappe - click HERE to get your boost. You will get back massive value on a premium scorer. I also like Oliver Giroud to score for France. I mentioned that he is trying to break an all time scoring record in my last article, thinking he would start the match. Unfortunately I was wrong about that. It may have become a lot tougher to break the record now, because I don’t think his teammates can force him an easy layup in knockouts. Griezmann will most likely be first in line to take PK’s when the two share the pitch. Griezmann was the PK taker for Euros and I don’t see that changing for the World Cup. We may find better success pivoting to his SOT/shots props to find value.

I see both teams wanting to get on the gas early here. Poland has nothing to lose and everything to play for. I think underdogs are most likely to progress if they can possess the ball early, get up shots, and get France (the favorite) playing on their back foot. That usually buys a team 15 to 20 minutes to snag an early goal. If Poland manages that early, it can shake the whole game up. Likewise, if France can score early, it may take Poland out of the game mentally. Either way. I hope we start with a flurry of offensive and end to end chances for both sides. A lot like the beginning of USA v Netherlands. Ultimately, I think France is the better squad and that they will advance. Not a lot of value to be had on that side of the ball other than player props.