On Tuesday, 26th of March, as part of the final round of the Euro 2024 qualification play-offs, the Welsh team will face the Polish national team. Rob Page's proteges easily handled their semi-final rivals, the Finnish team, with a 4:1 victory. On the other hand, the guests also had no problem against Estonia, beating them 5:1.
Wales: Ward; Davies, Mepham, Rodon; Roberts, Ampadu, J. James, Williams; Brooks, Wilson; Johnson.
Poland: Szczesny; Kiwior, Bednarek, Dawidowicz; Bereszynski, Zielinski, Slisz, Piotrowski, Zalewski; Swiderski, Lewandowski.
The match will take place in Cardiff on the stadium of the same name.
After two continental championships in 2016 and 2021, Wales is just one match away from their third consecutive participation in the Euro. Although the "Dragons" only finished third in their qualifying group, behind Turkey and Croatia but ahead of Armenia and Latvia, they made it to the play-offs thanks to their successful performance in the Nations League.
On Thursday evening, the Tricolores scored a massive victory over Finland, 4:1, having previously drawn twice in November against Armenia (1:1) and Turkey (1:1). The hosts took the lead with a goal from David Brooks, and then Neco Williams beautifully converted a free-kick; just before halftime, Teemu Pukki managed to reduce the deficit, but soon Brennan Johnson and James restored the Dragons' two-goal lead and completely killed the intrigue in the match.
Poland has also been a regular participant in major international competitions for several years. Having reached the 1/8 final of the 2022 World Cup and lost to France, the team has decreased its performance in recent months, finishing third in its Euro qualifier group after the Czech Republic and Albania.
However, the white and reds performed successfully in the Nations League's League A, which qualified them for the play-offs. They didn't show mercy to a very modest Estonian team on Thursday evening (5:1), and before that, the "white eagles" drew 1:1 with the Czech Republic and triumphed 2:0 in a friendly against Latvia.
Poland has not lost to the 'dragons' in their last nine encounters across all tournaments, winning all six from 2001 to 2022.
The home advantage should play in favor of the 'dragons', who rarely lose Euro qualifier matches on their home turf. Poland has experienced difficulties in recent months and flopped their qualifying campaign, failing to properly challenge the strong Albanian and Czech teams. It won't be easy to succeed in Cardiff with just Lewandowski, so I'm betting on a Welsh victory with a handicap of 0.
In none of its previous five home games on its ground has Wales conceded more than a goal per match. We confidently bet on individual total under (ITU) 1 goal for Poland.
Both teams will not force the pace of the game, understanding the price of potential errors. The whole battle will take place in the center of the field, hence, my bet is on total under (TU) 9.5 corners.
Both will be at each other for every ball in every one-on-one showdown, as a Euro ticket is at stake. My bet is on the total over (TO) 3.5 yellow cards.
My bet is for an exact score of 1:0 in favor of the Welsh team.
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