In a potential “Group C winner” deciding match, Germany will take on Poland on Thursday at the Stade de France stadium in Paris. Both the teams come into the match with a win in their respective openers. Whilst Germany comfortably won 2-0 against Ukraine, Poland edged out a narrow 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland.
Germany was at the top of their game against Ukraine but for a period of 20 minutes before half-time. Their domination was evident in the number of shots taken, 19 as compared to Ukraine’s 5 and the fact that Ukraine only had 32% of the ball possession to themselves. Though there remained a scope for improvement in the World Champions’ performance, their ruthlessness was showcased in the rapid counter-attack leading to Bastian Schweinsteiger’s last minute goal.
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Poland meanwhile are flying high on confidence after the victory against Northern Ireland. Though Poland’s main man is no doubt, Bundesliga top-scorer Robert Lewandowski, he was effectively shackled by Northern Ireland in the Poles' opener. Of the 18 shots attempted by Poland, none came from Lewandowski. Instead, it was strike partner Arkadiusz Milik who earned them a first European Championship.
Head to Head
Poland ended their 18-match winless run against Germany when they the World Champions 2-0 in Warsaw in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, courtesy of goals from Arkadiusz Milik and Sebastian Mila. In the return fixture though, it was the Germans who came on top as they saw off Poland with a commanding 3-1 scoreline. Germany have won 13 of the last 20 meetings between the two countries and have drawn 6 of the remaining 7.
Not only have Poland never been able to beat their arch rivals in any of the four meetings at major tournament finals, Germany have kept clean sheets in all these matches. They won 2-0 at Euro 2008, 1-0 at the 2006 World Cup and 1-0 at the 1974 World Cup (as West Germany). West Germany and Poland also drew 0-0 at the 1978 World Cup.
Also read: Euro 2016 England vs Wales - Live stream info, probable line-up and match preview
Robert Lewandowski has spoken about Poland’s chances of repeating their feat in Warsaw, urging his team to stay confident. “For me, Germany are the favourites for the whole tournament, but anything can happen. We have to stay calm and be confident against them,” said the striker, who proved his reputation as one of the world’s best striker by finishing top scorer in the Euro qualifiers. “No fear, no stress — we also need to have some fun (against them).”
Germany defender Jerome Boateng has called on his team-mates to be wary of Poland and warned that their counterparts are more than just a one-man team. "Poland are a good opponent. They have a lot of good attacking players, not only Lewandowski,” said the Bayern Munich player. He also added, "We [he and Lewandowski] play each other, we want the best for our countries, and we'll certainly clash on the pitch at some point. But whatever happens, it'll all be fine after the match."
Form guide (all games, most recent first)
Germany: W-W-L-W-L-L
Poland: W-D-L-W-W-W
Match Prediction
Poland have plenty of attacking threat in the duo of Arkadiusz Milik and Robert Lewandowski up front who could trouble Germany’s defence. Wingers Bartosz Kapustka and Jakub Blaszczkowski also tormented the Irish defence last time around with the latter even providing the assist for Milik’s goal.
However, with Germany’s defence bolstered by the incoming Mats Hummels, they should just be able to keep Lewa and company at bay. Add to this the fact that Poland are without number one keeper Wojciech Szczesny and one just feels that Germany will edge through given the in-form Mesut Ozil and Julian Draxler in their ranks.
Our prediction is that Germany will win the game with a scoreline of 2-1.
