Euro 2024: Pressure is on for Poland and Austria

Poland vs Austria

Losing the first game is not the ideal way to start your Euro 2024 campaign, and Poland and Austria cannot afford to lose one more when these two proud nations meet at the Olympiastadion Berlin on Friday evening.

Poland started with a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands, while Austria suffered a 1-0 defeat against tournament favourites France. Because of these Euro 2024 results, Poland and Austria are at the bottom of Group D.

But Poland and Austria can still make it to the next round, depending on where they’ll end up in the rankings among third-place finishers.

Which team will finally get their first win of the tournament? Without further ado, learn more about these two countries here in today’s SBOTOP match preview.

 

Talking Points

Is Lewandowski fit for Poland?

Poland got a major injury boost as Robert Lewandowski returned to training ahead of their match against Austria on Friday. The Barcelona striker was out of the Poles’ first game against the Netherlands due to a thigh injury.

With Lewandowski absent, Michal Probierz’s men struggled to create clear-cut chances in the final third, as Adam Buksa was their only threat up front.

If Lewandowski is 100-per cent fit on Friday, he should return to the starting XI, and he’ll likely partner up with Karol Swiderski, who had a strong performance off the bench last Sunday at Hamburg.

Jakub Moder also had a great cameo off the bench against the Netherlands, so Probierz might have to consider starting him in midfield against Austria.

Meanwhile, Bartosz Salamon is the newest addition to the Poles’ injury list, as the Lech Poznan centre-back injured his ankle against the Oranje. If he is out on Friday, Pawel Dawidowicz could step in and take his place.

Michal Probierz will likely continue with his 3-5-2 formation that he deployed against the Netherlands when they take on Austria next.

 

Austria shouldn’t be held scoreless again

Austria put up a valiant stand against France, but their lack of quality, especially in the final third, doomed them.

Das Team’s greatest chance against Les Bleus was when Christoph Baumgartner had an opportunity when he raced in on goal, but his lacklustre attempt was saved by Mike Maignan.

Prior to their loss against France, Austria were one of the most in-form teams in the world. In the build-up to the Euros, Ralf Rangnick’s men scored 11 goals in their last four exhibition games against Slovakia, Turkey, Serbia, and Switzerland.

Now with their backs against the wall, Austria need to regain their shooting boots fast, and they have the weapons in Christoph Baumgarter and Michael Gregoritsch to do the job.

However, if Rangnick decides to mix it up in the final third, he may call on Patrick Wimmer and Marko Arnautovic to start on Friday.

 

History

Poland and Austria will meet at a major tournament for just the second time on Friday. Their last encounter was in Euro 2008, where they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw during the group stage.

Before that, Austria won three of their first five games against Poland (L2) between 1935 and 1994. However, Austria are now winless in their last five matches against Poland (D2, L3) between 2004 and 2019.

If Poland lose to Austria on Friday, it’ll be the first time they’ve lost consecutive games within the same edition of the Euros.

The Poles have only scored more than once in one of their 15 matches at the Euros, which happened in a 3-2 loss to Sweden in Euro 2020, although they’ve found the back of the net in each of their last seven games in the quadrennial tournament.

On the other hand, Austria failed to score for the first time in 18 games during their latest defeat against France.

 

Betting Tip

The Euro 2024 odds are in favour of Austria getting their first win of the tournament at the expense of Poland. Das Team are priced at 2.06, while the Poles are not far behind at 3.52, and a draw is at 3.31 in the 1X2 market.

After going scoreless against France, Austria should be better in the final third against a relatively weaker Poland team. So, other than our recommended bet above, you may want to check out Over 2.25 at 1.72, Over 2.75 at 2.26, or Total Goal 2-3 at 1.90.

Furthermore, Correct Scores of 2-1 and 2-0 in favour of Austria are valued at 8.20 and 9.40, respectively. But the same scores in favour of Poland, meanwhile, are priced much higher at 12.50 and 20.00, respectively.

   

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