Ladbrokes' daily World Cup accumulator: England to grind out another win on day 21

England had a solid if unspectacular group stage, fulfilling expectations by winning Group L without setting the world alight, bar an impressive second-half against Croatia. That 4-2 win was followed by a 0-0 draw with Ghana, before an unconvincing 2-0 win against Panama sealed their progression. England's reward is a last 32 tie against DR Congo, who have reached the World Cup knockout stage for the first time.

DR Congo, who we tipped as one of our pre-tournament dark horses, were impressive defensively in holding Portugal to a 1-1 draw in their opener, before a narrow 1-0 loss to Group K winners Colombia. An historic 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, DR Congo's first ever on this stage, secured their qualification as one of the best third-placed teams.

This game is likely to follow a similar to script to England's game against Ghana, who successfully frustrated the Three Lions in a goalless draw. Indeed, Ghana are the only team remaining in the competition who had a lower average possession than DR Congo in the group stages.

We think England will find a way to win, but they'll have to be patient and it could be another low-scoring affair. Seven of England's last nine games have had under 2.5 goals, while eight of DR Congo's last ten internationals have gone under that number, so we're predicting England to win and under 2.5 goals in the match for the first leg of our Day 21 World Cup acca.

Next up is Belgium vs Senegal, which looks like it could be one of the most evenly matched ties of the last 32. It's the last chance for Belgium's golden generation, with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku surely absent four years from now.

The Red Devils were mediocre in drawing their first two matches against Egypt and Iran, but a 5-1 win against New Zealand in their final Group G game was enough to see them top the group. They face a solid Senegal team more than capable of an upset, and Belgium should not underestimate them with Germany and the Netherlands among the early casualties already in the knockouts.

The Lions of Teranga emerged from probably the toughest group, with France and Norway also in Group I. Senegal lost both of those games, but benefited from a later game as they knew what they needed to do to qualify, and duly beat Iraq 5-0 to progress to the knockouts. They were the only team with 3 points to qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.

Senegal have a highly dangerous front three in Ismaila Sarr, Nicolas Jackson and Sadio Mane, and we think they'll cause plenty of problems for a Belgium side whose weakness is in defence. The west African country are hardly solid at the back themselves, shipping three each to France and Norway, so we're predicting both teams to score in what should be an entertaining encounter in the last 32.

Co-hosts USA have enjoyed a fantastic tournament so far and managed to engage the home crowds, as they put in some impressive performances to win Group D with a game to spare. They did lose a dead rubber with Turkey 3-2, but their 4-1 mauling of Paraguay in the opening game is starting to look mightily impressive in the wake of the South American nation stunning Germany in one of the all-time great World Cup shocks.

Bosnia and Herzegovina have already played one of the co-hosts in Canada in Group B, and they coped with the raucous atmosphere well as they drew 1-1. A 4-1 defeat to Switzerland was a harsh final scoreline having matched the Swiss for most of the game, but a 3-1 win over Qatar was enough to qualify in third place, advancing to the World Cup knockout stages for the first time ever.

Mauricio Pochettino has got the USMNT playing exciting, energetic football and the atmosphere in San Francisco should be electric. We think his side will feed off that and beat Bosnia to build the hype up to fever pitch, and we're going to have another look at the over/under goals market.

Each of Bosnia's last two have had over 2.5 goals, while eight of the USA's last ten matches have gone over - in that stretch, games involving the USA have averaged 4.1 total goals per game. We think there'll be goals galore as The Stars and Stripes advance to the last 16.

Check back for our daily accumulator predictions throughout the tournament, and don't forget to read our in-depth previews and bet builder tips for the biggest games. As always, head to our World Cup hub for all the latest content throughout the tournament.

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All odds and market details are accurate as of the time of publication.

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