Croatia vs Poland Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 UEFA Nations League | League A Group 1
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These two had very different experiences to kick off their 2024/25 UEFA Nations League campaign with Croatia suffering a 2-1 loss to Portugal and Poland managing a dramatic 3-2 defeat of Scotland at Hampden Park.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 8th September, 2024 - UK – 7:45pm / US ET – 2:45pm / US PT – 11:45am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TBC / US – FOX Sports
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – TBC / US – FOX Sports streaming platforms
CROATIA PREVIEW: CROATS STUCK IN LIMBO
Croatia appear to be embarking upon the new international cycle by sticking with the tried and tested. Luka Modric remains captain, Ivan Perisic remains vice-captain and the likes of Bruno Petkovic, Mateo Kovacic and Ante Budimir are still around the squad.
After being knocked out in the group stages of UEFA EURO 2024, Zlatko Dalic could have done with a much-improved performance the other night but they went down by two goals to one at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon against Portugal.
POLAND PREVIEW: LAST GASP POLISH VICTORY
On Thursday, Poland found themselves 2-0 up against Scotland in Glasgow with a goal from range scored by Sebastian Szymanski and then a penalty from Robert Lewandowski. Nicola Zalewski’s 97th minute penalty eventually gave them a 3-2 win after Scotland had fought back.
Poland, under the management of Michal Probierz, endured a difficult UEFA EURO 2024 campaign after only making the tournament with a penalty shootout victory over Wales at the Cardiff City Stadium in the playoffs in March.
CROATIA TEAM NEWS: CHANGE IN SYSTEM
Zlatko Dalic has been wedded to the same sort of players and sort of system, whether that be a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, throughout his tenure as Croatia boss but he did change to a back three for the defeat in Lisbon.
PREDICTED XI (3-5-1-1): Livakovic; Sutalo, Pongracic, Gvardiol; Jakic, Modric, Kovacic, Baturina, Sosa; Pasalic; Kramaric
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
POLAND TEAM NEWS: FULLY FIT POLAND
Poland do appear to have a bit of a better balance for the Michal Probierz era. There are clear wing-backs such as Przemyslaw Frankowski and Nicola Zalewski with Sebastian Szymanski emerging to offer creative support to Piotr Zielinski.
PREDICTED XI (3-5-2): Bulka; Bednarek, Dawidowicz, Kiwior; Frankowski, Szymanski, Urbanski, Zielinski, Zalewski; Piatek, Lewandowski
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
CROATIA VS POLAND PREDICTION
There is a chance that things become quite stale with this generation of Croatian talent, despite the emergence in the last couple of years of one of the best defenders in the world in Josko Gvardiol as well as the current form of Andrej Kramaric. Poland are not a team that score three too often so their win against Scotland cannot be taken as the new look Poland, especially when it involved a goal from distance as well as two penalties. The likelihood remains a low-scoring affair.
CROATIA VS POLAND TIP: UNDER 3.5 GOALS
