The away victory over Scotland 3:2 in itself means that the achievements of the Polish national team after September's Nations League matches will be at least decent. Nevertheless, on Sunday in Osijek, Croatia, Michał Probierz's team will have a huge chance to take a big step towards the quarterfinals, and at the same time the first basket of the World Cup qualifiers.
The task will be extremely difficult, of course, because they will face the third team of the last World Cup. However, the Croatians also have their problems. On Euro 2024 they couldn't even beat Albania and didn't make it out of the group, while in the opening round of the Nations League they lost to Portugal 1:2. And now, as coach Zlatko Dalić himself confirms, they will be playing under much greater pressure than the “White and Reds”.
You don't change a winning team? That's a no-brainer. At least three changes for Probierz for Croatia
There will be one forced change in the Polish squad for the match in Osijek – the injured Adam Buksa has been replaced by Mateusz Bogusz, who may get a chance to debut in national colours. Bartosz Mrozek and Mateusz Kowalczyk will not be able to count on such a chance, as they will once again sit in the stands, as will Mateusz Wieteska.
Michał Probierz announced before the match in Glasgow that a different goalkeeper would play in each September match. That is why we will definitely not see Marcin Bułka in the Polish goal, or rather Łukasz Skorupski has much higher ratings than Bartłomiej Drągowski. Unless we assume that “Skorup” received his first chance at Euro 2024 with France (1:1), although this does not seem to be a very likely scenario.
In the defense of the “White and Reds” one change is expected. Although Sebastian Walukiewicz gave a good change in Glasgow for Jakub Kiwior, the shifts in defense of Jan Bednarek and Paweł Dawidowicz meant that the defensive line still did not look good. Therefore, it will not be a surprise if Kamil Piątkowski plays in place of Kiwior this time and it will be a one-for-one change, i.e. he will take the position of half-left center, while Bednarek and Dawidowicz will play where they did in the first half at Hampden Park.
There should be no changes in the second line. Even in the case of Przemysław Frankowski, who was average in Glasgow and at Euro 2024, as there is no other player in the squad who would feel good on the right wing. It would be different on the other side of the pitch, where they could play Jakub Kaminski or Tymoteusz Puchacz, although there is no need to make a change for the fantastically well-disposed Nicola Zalewski.
In the middle, if there are no forced changes, Sebastian Szymański, Piotr Zieliński and Kacper Urbański should have a safe place, and in front Robert Lewandowski. However, it is unlikely that Krzysztof Piątek will play from the first minute in Osijek, completely cut off from the game at Hampden Park. And here Michał Probierz has two solutions – play two strikers again and bring in his place Karola ¦widerskior strengthen the midfield with another midfielder, for example Jakub Piotrowski, whom the coach stubbornly took with him to meetings with journalists on Saturday – interview in TVPas well as the press conference in Osijek. At that time, practically any of the midfielders could have played closest to Lewandowski, including Kacper Urbański, who played that role at the Euro.
Once again, we should not forget about Jakub Moder, who in normal circumstances could have started the game from the first minute at the Opus Arena, but 20 minutes in Glasgow did not really change the fact that he is not ready to play for a longer period of time.
Probable Polish squad for the match against Croatia:
Łukasz Skorupski – Jan Bednarek, Paweł Dawidowicz, Kamil Piątkowski (Sebastian Walukiewicz) – Przemysław Frankowski, Sebastian Szymański, Piotr Zieliński, Kacper Urbański, Nicola Zalewski – Karol Świderski (Jakub Piotrowski), Robert Lewandowski.
The Nations League match Croatia – Poland will take place on Sunday, September 8 at 20:45 at the Opus Arena in Osijek. Live coverage on Sport.pl.