Poland face Netherlands at Volksparkstadion in the opening Group D match of UEFA Euro 2024.
Victory would see Poland or Netherlands go top of their group with Austria not facing France until Monday (17 June) evening.
Team News
Robert Lewandowski is ruled out for Poland with a thigh injury.
Pawel Dawidowicz and Karol Swiderski are set to feature despite having their own injury issues coming into the tournament.
Netherlands have called Ian Maatsen and Joshua Zirkzee up to the squad after Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners were forced to withdraw due to ankle and groin injuries respectively.
When is Kick-Off?
Poland face Netherlands at Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany, at 3pm CEST (2pm UK Time) on Sunday 16 June, live on BBC1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is Poland’s first meeting against Netherlands at the finals tournament of the European Championship.
- Netherlands are unbeaten in four of six previous meetings against Poland in European Championship, albeit in qualifying stages (W2, D2, L2).
- Poland have kept just one clean sheet so far in 2024 (W3, D1).
- Virgil van Dijk and Wout Weghorst have scored in Netherlands’ pair of 4-0 warm-up friendly wins over Canada and Iceland.
Prediction
With Group D looking like the wide-open group of death at this tournament, a strong start is imperative for both teams and more so for Poland who scraped past Wales in the Qualifying Play-Offs, yet are now without Lewandowski but can’t be underestimated nevertheless.
Netherlands meanwhile are currently in strong form but their last five defeats have all come against top-nine ranked European teams in FIFA Rankings, so you would think that this game is the Dutch’s to lose ahead of the tricky clash against France.
I however do feel that this could be closer than some might think but Netherlands really should have the edge in firepower.
Prediction: Poland 1-2 Netherlands
Result: Poland 1-2 Netherlands
Leave a Reply