Euro 2024: Poland x Austria, Match Preview, Odds and Predictions(22/06/2024)

The Olympiastadion will be crowded when Poland and Austria square off in Group D during the second round of the European Championship finals. 

The good news for the nominal hosts is that important forward Robert Lewandowski has recovered from his slight injury as they try to bounce back from a 2-1 setback to the Netherlands. 

After hobbling out with an injury in the opening group game, defender Bartosz Salamon is in serious doubt, while Matty Cash and Arkadiusz Milik have also been declared out.

Poland x Austria Team News

Injury forced Robert Lewandowski to miss the loss to the Netherlands, but Poland hopes to recover in time for this one. 

In his place, 19-year-old Kacper Urbanski joined Adam Buksa upfront; the former is more likely to withdraw if Lewandowski returns. 

Although Lewandowski was supposed to be partnered by Karol Swiderski, given that Buksa scored Poland's lone goal against Netherlands, he could have to make do with the bench.

The midfield trio was Taras Romanczuk, Sebastian Szymanski, and Piotr Zielinski, with Bartosz Salamon starting at the back ahead of Pawel Dawidowicz. 

Though Bartosz Slisz is a possible rotational choice for Szymanski, it will stay the same.

Heinz Lindner and Niklas Hedl were passed over for a goal by Austria, and Patrick Pentz may be their starter for this match. 

The XI was otherwise unremarkable; Marko Arnautovic was moved to the bench as Ralf Rangnick went with a 4-2-3-1, with Christoph Baumgartner supporting Michael Gregoritsch. 

Marcel Sabitzer and Konrad Laimer pushed from deeper positions, followed by Nicolas Seiwald and Florian Grillitsch.

Head To Head And Previous Matches

Considering the other two teams in Group D, it might be shocking that Poland and Austria enter this match pointless. The more balanced game would have been Poland vs Netherlands, and Adam Buksa gave Poland the lead. But Cody Gakpo's equalizer and Wout Weghorst's late winner helped the Netherlands rally to win 2-1.

Poland had 12 shots against the Netherlands while giving up 21; the xG was 1.47 to 1.32 in favour of the Oranje. It made their dismal European Championship record—just two victories in 15 games so far—even worse. 

Both triumphs occurred at Euro 2016 when they advanced to the quarterfinals and lost to eventual champions Portugal on penalty. They had never before advanced beyond the group stage, either.

In their first match against France, one of the tournament's favourites, Austria did give Les Bleus a problematic game. In the run-up to the competition, Austria's defence—expected to be among the hardest to beat—was much discussed.

And they did restrict France to a single goal, which came just before halftime when Maximilian Wober headed a cross from Kylian Mbappe into his net.

Austria has won only two games in the history of the European Championship, the same as Poland, and both triumphs came from 11 games. 

Once again, they were competing in the same tournament; Austria made it to the Euro 2024 final 16 for the first time but lost to eventual victors Italy in extra time.

Considering the disparity in skill between the two teams and their 1-0 loss to France, Austria finished the game with more corners than their opponents. 

The soldiers of Ralf Rangnick had six in all versus France's two. Poland, however, only managed three corners in their match against the Netherlands and gave up six themselves.

Our Predictions

Austria to win @1.97 on Sky247.ng

Poland and Austria made valiant efforts in their opening Euro 2024 games, but two nations ultimately defeated them with decades of footballing history. However, one team's performance had more positive aspects than the other.

The Netherlands finally prevailed 2-1 because of the Poles' persistent pressure, but they lacked cutting edge after that and let up an astounding 21 shots.

By contrast, Austria may have outplayed its opponents and only lost because of Maximilian Wober's goal. They had 52% of the possession against the 2022 World Cup finalists and three shots on target against France, the same number as Les Bleus.

Preference would be for Ralf Rangnick's men based only on their performances, and a closer examination of the specifics confirms that sentiment. 

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