Czech Republic will open their account in Group E on Friday at 19:45 GMT when they host Poland at the Sinobo Stadium.
The home side hopes for a winning start to their Group E campaign as they bid to lay down a marker early on. A win will go a long way to bolster their chances of topping the group and enhancing their chances of making it to the Euros.
Poland will look to make a stunning start away from home when they take on the Czech Republic. They will be hoping to be in contention for the entirety of the match and even nick a win to get off to a flyer.
Key Highlights
The Czech Republic’s Poor Run of Form
Czech have been in dire form in recent matches. In their last five outings, they have won just once and lost the other four.
The win came in a 5-1 annihilation of the Faroe Islands at home in a friendly. Competitively, the Czech have lost to four of their last five Nations League matches. They have lost against Switzerland (2-1), Portugal (0-4), Spain (2-0), and Portugal again (2-0).
The other Nations League matches ended in a 2-2 draw against Spain and a 2-1 home win against Switzerland in June last year.
Jaroslav Šilhavý and his men will look to arrest this dire run of form when they host Poland on Friday. They will bid to leverage home comforts to bolster their performance, intimidate the opponents, and get off to a winning start in their Euros qualifiers.
Poland’s Inconsistency
Poland have been in indifferent from. At the World Cup, they showed quality and character to qualify from Group C and make it to the round-of-16 where an in-form side, and eventual finalists, France knocked them out.
However, their up-and-down form was also highlighted at the World Cup because apart from beating Saudi Arabia 2-0, they were held to a draw by Mexico (0-0_ and they were beaten by eventual World Cup winners, Argentina (0-2).
Their overall form over the last five matches shows they have won twice, drawn once, and lost twice.
The manager, Jaroslav Šilhavý, and his men will be looking to turn around their form when they visit the Czech Republic on Friday. They hope to get their qualifying campaign off to a winning start.
Injury Report
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic and their new manager Fernando Santos will be without goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka. The 30-year-old is sidelined with an illness and is a major doubt for the visit of Poland.
Poland
The Polish camp has reported no injuries or suspensions ahead of their trip to the Czech Republic.
This will boost Fernando Santos because it will allow him to pick a strong side against the Czech Republic on Friday.
Possible Lineups
Czech Republic
T. Vaclik; V. Jemelka, D. Zima, O. Kudela, V. Coufal; T. Soucek, L. Kalvach; A. Vlkanova, A. Barak, V. Cerny; P. Schick
Poland
W. Szczesny; B. Bereszynski, J. Kiwior, K. Glik, M. Cash; G. Krychowiak; P. Frankowski, S. Szymanski, P. Zielinski, J. Kaminski; R. Lewandowski
Prediction
The Czech Republic, playing at home, will look to play on the offensive and adopt a proactive approach. They will look to dominate the ball and set the match’s tempo.
Poland will be pragmatic, making it difficult for the Czech Republic to play.
The Czech Republic are the favorites to win the match and take the three points on offer. This will allow them to get to a successful start to their Euro qualifiers campaign.
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