Poland National Football Team

Manager / Paulo Sousa
Appointed / January 2021
Captain / Robert Lewandowski
Top Scorer in Euro 2020 Qualifiers / Robert Lewandowski, 6
Top Scorer in Squad (Domestic season 2020-21) / Robert Lewandowski, 41 (Bayern Munich, Bundesliga)
Most Carded in qualifying / Grzegorz Krychowiak, 3
Group / E, vs. Slovakia (14/06/2021), vs. Spain (19/06/2021), vs. Sweden (23/06/2021)

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *

Poland Road to Euro 2020

Comfortably qualifying for this tournament and staying up in a difficult Nations League group would usually represent a good build-up for the Euros though not in Poland, with coach Jerzy Brzeczek sacked in January and replaced by Paulo Sousa. The reasons for his departure were two-fold as although he did do what was expected of him, there were fault lines beginning to appear. His dour style of play has been the most obvious thing that has been changed since Sousa’s arrival, with the second reason being almost as important. Brzeczek’s relationship with Robert Lewandowski was fraught, so Sousa will be keen to get on the Bayern Munich hitman’s good side or could face a similar outcome to his predecessor. They’ve struggled under Sousa’s more gung-ho leadership, scrapping a 3-3 draw with Hungary in his first game in charge before making hard work of Andorra and then losing to England.

Poland Euro 2020 Squad

Having only taken charge of three competitive games, predicting Sousa’s system isn’t easy, especially given his penchant for changing things in-game. Reports suggest he may opt for a flexible 4-4-2, with Maciej Rybus pushing out from defence and into a left-wing role to make it more a midfield five when the Poles are in possession. As for personnel, Krzysztof Piatek is the most notable absentee, with the striker ruled out due to breaking his ankle on a rare start for his club side, Hertha Berlin, a couple of weeks ago. That does take away a dangerous weapon at Sousa’s disposal but they do have Europe’s most lethal number nine in their ranks in Lewandowski.

Goalkeeper

Poland are blessed with fantastic options between the posts. Lukasz Skorupski has been a Serie A stalwart for half a decade now and is an impressive third-choice stopper behind West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski and the country’s number one, Wojciech Szczesny. Szczesny has had to deal with speculation about his place at Juventus this season, with the Old Lady eyeing up Milan’s Gigi Donnarumma as his replacement, and he’ll hope that speculation dies down during the tournament.

Defence

Despite initially not fancying the experienced Kamil Glik, Sousa should call upon the Benevento man to partner the less experienced Jan Bednarek of Southampton. Glik has started to look his 33 years of age in the last 18 months, and picking up a yellow card every 3.6 Serie A games in the season just gone is a worry. I’m not always a fan of central defenders for cards but against a sprightly Spanish front line he could be worth a bet in his nation’s second game of the tournament.

Midfield

There are quite a few UK based midfielders in this Poland squad, namely Leeds’ Mateusz Klich who should start alongside former West Brom and PSG man Grzegorz Krychowiak in the heart of Sousa’s midfield. Napoli’s Piotr Zielinski is a potential difference maker from midfield, playing slightly to the left but given freedom, particularly under Sousa, to get up close to the strikers. He averaged 0.89 shots on target per game for Napoli last season and with Poland likely to take the initiative in their opening game in Dublin against Slovakia, he could be worth adding to a bet builder.

Attack

Europe’s deadliest striker will be hoping to carry his domestic form into the international arena, as Lewandowski will back his chances of securing yet another individual accolade, with half an eye on the top scorer award. He broke the Bundesliga scoring record, notching 41 times for Bayern last season, and with Arkadiusz Milik, Kamil Jozwiak and Zielinski helping him out he could trouble a lot of defences.

Poland predicted line-up vs. Slovakia: Szczesny; Bereszynski, Glik, Bednarek, Rybus; Jozwiak, Krychowiak, Klich, Zielinski; Lewandowski, Milik. (4-4-2)

Hungary Euro 2020 Betting Tips & Predictions

I’m expecting Poland to finish second in this group, behind Spain, and you can get 2.63 for them to do so. The pivotal game for them should be the final group game as they travel back to Dublin to face Sweden. Though given four of six of the 3rd placed teams progress through to the knock-outs, there’s a chance a big win against Slovakia and narrow defeat or draw with Spain would see them progress even ahead of the likely pivotal tie for second place with Sweden on June 23.

I fancy them to get the three points on the board fairly quickly and easily against Slovakia in their opening game (1.75). Poland are a step above their opening game opponents and in Lewandowski they have a player capable of scoring at will against pretty much any opponent, let alone one with few stars.

Looking at previous winners of the golden boot, five goals has been enough to get you at least a share of the award in all bar one of the last eight European Championships. I do predict Poland to get through their group, if not much further, meaning Lewandowski has probably got four games to get five goals. The Bayern Munich number nine averaged a goal every 60 minutes in the past Bundesliga season, a similar rate of scoring would see him land on six goals for this tournament should they make it to the Round of 16. I wouldn’t bet against running riot against Slovakia and in Sweden, Spain and, most likely, Croatia in the first knock-out round, I wouldn’t back against Lewa scoring at least once against each of those defences. You can get him to finish as the top scorer at 26.0.

Predicted stage of elimination: Round of 16

How to watch Spain v Poland in Euro 2020

📅   When / Saturday, 19 June 2021, 20:00 BST
🏟   Where / Estadio de La Cartuja (Sevilla)
📺   TV / BBC One, ARD
📱   Online streaming / bet365