Prediction: Poland vs Netherlands

Verdict: Away win

Best odds: 21/20

Bookmaker: Unibet

Poland and Netherlands are set to do battle on Thursday evening at the Polish National Stadium in Warsaw, in a match within round five of League A Group 4 of the 2022/24 Nations League. The significance of these matches may appear fainter than usual given the proximity of the upcoming World Cup, but from the perspective of the teams themselves, they are all the more important as the players and coaches seek to build competitive form ahead of the tournament in Qatar.

Poland

Poland opened their Nations League campaign with a win at home against Wales, but since then, they’ve only managed another point by drawing 2-2 away to Netherlands. They were smashed 6-1 away to Belgium and lost to that opponent at home as well, by 0-1. The four points to their name have them in third place in the group, ahead of only Wales, who have one.

As for the way they qualified for the World Cup, Poland finished second to England in Group I and were supposed to face Russia in the semifinals of the play-offs, but following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and strong appeals from a number of FAs across Europe, as well as individual players which most notably included Poland captain Robert Lewandowski, Russia was expelled from the process and Poland was given a free pass into the final, where they beat Sweden.

In the World Cup draw which followed the completion of the qualifying process, Poland was drawn in Group C and will face Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

Team News

Lewandowski is playing like a man possessed at the moment. It’s almost as if he’s determined to prove to the world that the Bundesliga, where he played and tore opposition defences for over a decade before joining Barcelona this summer, is not as weak as many believe compared to La Liga or the Premier League, or that he can still do the business at the age of 34. The former Bayern Munich star has scored 11 goals in just eight appearances for the Catalans so far this term.

Lewandowski will surely be leading the line and wearing the armband for Poland in this match. Midfielder Piotr Zielinski is another one expected to make himself seen, given his contribution to Napoli currently topping the Serie A table.

Sampdoria right-back Bartosz Bereszyinski is expected to start in the place of Aston Villa’s Matty Cash, who is injured. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has returned to team training at Juventus and should slot right back into Czeslaw Michniewicz’s team.

Netherlands

Despite dropping points at home against Poland, Netherlands top the group table with 10 points, three more than Belgium in second place after four matches. Louis van Gaal’s side started the competition with a 1-4 win in Belgium followed by a 1-2 triumph in Wales, before Poland came and knocked two points off their account. In the last round to date, they completed the double over Wales by winning 3-2 at home.

Netherlands qualified for the World Cup by finishing top of Group G in the qualifications, ahead of Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia and Gibraltar. Over in Qatar, they’ve been drawn to play the tournament hosts, Ecuador and Senegal in Group A. It will, of course, mean Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk battling it out with former teammate and good friend, Sadio Mane, who now plays for Bayern Munich.

Anyway, the Netherlands team seems to have taken the Warsaw trip in good spirits, even though they received a rather bad piece of news about a month ago.

This bromance 🥰🤣#NationsLeague #POLNED pic.twitter.com/g1yHSR9pMX

— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) September 20, 2022

Team News

Netherlands will have to play both against Poland and against Belgium on Sunday, and most likely the whole World Cup too, without Georginio Wijnaldum. The midfielder who left Liverpool for Paris Saint-Germain in 2020 and moved on to AS Roma on loan ahead of this season played just one match for his newest club before fracturing his tibia in training. The injury has left him in a bad state, not only physically, as the 31-year-old himself recently admitted.

Defender Hans Hateboer and midfielder Noah Lang have surprisingly been left out for these matches. Denzel Dumfries of Inter Milan is therefore nailed on to start on the right defensive flank, with Ajax’s Steven Berguis to drop into midfield and Feyenoord winger Cody Gakpo to come in beside Memphis Depay upfront.

Conclusion

Looking at the respective quality of these teams, one would favour Netherlands, but it won’t be as simple as that in the Polish capital. Still, a narrow win for the visitors is the likeliest outcome.

Verdict: Away win

Best odds: 21/20

Bookmaker: Unibet