Poland vs Portugal Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Jun 28, 2016 @ 01:38 am

Next Thursday, 30th of June 2016, a super inconsistent Portugal will measure forces with a well organized Poland at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille for the first match of Euro 2016 Quarter-finals.

After the 3-3 draw against Hungary that secured them a place in the Round of 16, Portugal managed to pull off a narrow 1-0 win on extra-time when they met Croatia at Lens last time out. A last minute goal by flamboyant winger Ricardo Quaresma allowed Portugal to claw a valuable win on a match where they fell short of expectations once again. With Cristiano Ronaldo miles away from what he is actually capable of doing, Portugal opted for a counter-attack based strategy to control Croatia’s fast passing game and, in a way, they managed to prevent the Balkanic team from creating particularly dangerous attacking movements, especially during the first-half. Fernando Santos benched experienced centre back Ricardo Carvalho bringing in Southampton’s captain José Fonte instead, and the 32-year old pulled off a solid performance alongside Pepe, who probably was the team’s best player last Saturday.

The upcoming match against Poland will certainly be a difficult one for Portugal and there are some doubts if Fernando Santos will again opt for a counter-attack based strategy instead of taking control of the match from the first minute. Talented Valencia’s midfielder André Gomes and Borussia Dortmund’s left back Raphael Guerreiro have missed last Monday’s training session due to injury and there are doubts out there. João Moutinho is still struggling with a minor injury, but will probably recovery in for the next Thursday’s match.

As for Poland, after a narrow 1-0 win over the Ukraine in their last group match, Adam Nawalka’s men managed to overcome Switzerland in the penalty-shootout in the Round 16 clash last Saturday at Saint-Ettiéne. The Polish side were stronger in the first-half and got the much deserved advantage after an excellent attacking movement led by Kamil Grosicki that Kuba sent home with class five minutes before the break. Switzerland pulled off a strong reaction after half-time and clawed the equalizer thanks to a spectacular overhead kick goal by Xherdan Shaqiri near the end of the match. Poland benefited from a poor inspiration moment by Granit Xhaka, who missed his penalty, to grab a place in the tournament’s Quarter-finals.

Bayern Munich’s centre forward Robert Lewandowski is still struggling with a metatarsal injury but will probably recover in time for the important match against Portugal next Thursday.

Poland

Stats: W-3 L-0 D-2

Recent Form - WWDWD

Portugal

Stats: W-2 L-0 D-3

Recent Form - WDDDW

Possible Line-ups

Poland (4-4-2) – Fabianski - Piszczek - Glik - Pazdan - Jedrzejczyk - Kuba - Krychowiak - Maczynski - Grosicki - Milik - Lewandowski

Portugal (4-1-3-2) – Rui Patricio - Cédric - Pepe - José Fonte - Eliseu - William - Moutinho - Adrien Silva - João Mário - Nani - Ronaldo

Injury List / Suspended Players

Poland - Lewandowski (in doubt)

Portugal - Raphael Guerreiro (in doubt), André Gomes (in doubt), João Moutinho (in doubt)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions