Day Six at the World Cup sees teams in Group H finally get their campaigns underway.
They’ve had to bide their time as the competition began last Thursday, and despite the wait, they will be hoping for winning starts.
2014’s surprise acts Colombia face Japan, before Senegal come up against Robert Lewandowski’s Poland side, while Russia and Egypt round off the day’s action as the second set of fixtures begin.
Our football betting expert runs through the best World Cup bets ahead of the triple header.
Colombia v Japan
James Rodriguez and Colombia enjoyed a strong 2014 tournament, beating Uruguay 2-0 in the round of 16 before being edged out in the quarter-finals by Brazil.
They will not be the surprise act that they were four years ago, and many players have now moved on to the bigger club sides following that successful tournament.
Japan stand in their way in this opening group game and they are in their sixth successive finals.
Shinji Kagawa and Co are well up against it this time, and a far superior Colombia side on paper should win this comfortably despite the number of shocks that have taken place so far in this tournament.
I don’t envisage a shock here and will go for Colombia to win to nil at 5/4.
Poland v Senegal
The last two sides to play their opening fixture head to the Otkrytie Arena.
Both teams have plenty of firepower up top with Robert Lewandowski leading the line for the Poles, while Liverpool’s Sadio Mane spearheads the Senegal attack.
That means it may well be a case of strikers on top in this game and with attack appearing to be well-ahead of defence in this one, there could be goals aplenty for both sides, though Poland may just have too much quality.
With that in mind, I fancy both teams to score and Poland to take the win at 9/2.
Russia v Egypt
Group A ‘s second round of matches begin with a must-not-lose game for Egypt if they are to make it to the round of 16.
Russia surprised many with their 5-0 demolition of a poor Saudi Arabia side in the opening game and they are firmly in the box seat to qualify for the round of 16, with their goal difference a massive boost.
Egypt’s hopes once again rely on whether Mo Salah starts. They desperately missed the Liverpool forward in their first game, eventually losing late on to Uruguay, and not holding out for a point was a hammer blow to their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages.
Without Salah it will be tough and I feel the Russians will make it two victories on the spin, with a win to nil, which can be backed at 2/1.
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