Poland vs Slovakia
Poland vs Slovakia takes place in St Petersburg on June 14 in the first game of Group E. The White and Reds have only qualified for the European Championship finals four times and they will be hoping that they can improve on their 2016 appearance when they made it to the quarter-finals. Slovakia on the other hand have only played once before in the finals, reaching the round of 16 in 2016. Read on for our game analysis, match predictions and betting tips
Form
Paulo Sousa took charge of Poland in January 2021 and inherited a team that was in patchy form. Although they had a credible 0-0 draw with Italy in the Nations League, they lost home and away to the Netherlands as they finished in third place in Group A1. Things haven’t much improved in the three matches since Paulo Sousa took charge; an expected win over Andorra was sandwiched by an away draw with Hungary and defeat to England at Wembley. If Poland are to get anywhere in this competition they will need to improve defensively, having only shut out Andorra in their last five games.
Slovakia are not much better. The Falcons have only won three times in their last eleven games and one of those required extra time. Home and away defeats to local rivals Czech Republic in the Nations League will have hurt while draws with Cyprus and Malta in March point to a team that is not in great form. Stefan Tarkovic has seen his side score only five times in their last five games, although the 2-1 win over Russia in Trnava in their last international game does give reason for hope.
Injuries
Krzysztof Piatek injured his ankle playing for Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga in May and that injury has been severe enough to keep him out of the final 26 man squad for Poland. That means an even heavier burden for skipper Robert Lewandowski as the man to carry his team. West Bromwich Albion winger Kamil Grosicki barely played for his team last season and that has meant he has also missed out; Kamil Joziwak of Derby County and Przemyslaw Placheta of Norwich City have been preferred.
Slovakia have announced only 24 players so far to their squad with the last two to be added once players have been assessed following the completion of the domestic season. One player who won’t make it will be former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel, who ruptured his achilles tendon in December while playing for Istanbul Basaksehir. Experienced skipper Marek Hamsik will be there though, having broken his contract with Dalian of the Chinese Super League to move to IFK Goteborg in the Allsvenskan in March as preparation for the Euro2020 tournament.
Game Prediction
Poland enter this game as favourites, which probably recognises the influence of Robert Lewandowski more than anything else. A lot will depend on how much the Slovakian defence can cope with Lewandowski, who scored a record breaking 41 goals for Bayern Munich in the last Bundesliga season and who is in red hot form. This game has potential to be scrappy, as evidenced by the bookies offering low odds for under 2.5 goals and BTTS: No. With this in mind, we think the handicap market is the place to look for betting tips.
