Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter
Poland take on Croatia tonight in Osijek, currently heading up their Nations League group thanks to goals scored. Whilst Poland were fortunate in their win in Glasgow against Scotland on Thursday night, Croatia were on the losing side against Portugal.
Croatia will undoubtedly pose a tougher test than Scotland did, and that is no disrespect to a Scotland team that could just as easily have won in the same way Poland did. As it is, Poland have three points and will be looking hopefully to add to that tally this evening.
They will definitely be without Adam Buksa, who suffered a calf injury during his cameo on Thursday night and has left the camp to return to his club for further treatment.
As it is, in my opinion the starting line-up that Probierz will choose is likely to look something like this:
I’ll grant that with this line-up there is a lot of wishful thinking on my part in terms of the personnel being chosen, and it is just as likely that Probierz will choose a team very similar to that from Thursday. However, Croatia pose a greater and more specific threat, so I would expect to see at least two of the changes that I have albeit slightly casually predicted.
Probierz was absolutely correct when he summed up the victory against Scotland as being “characterful”, and that is probably something Poland should take heart from going into tonight’s match. There were some really wonderful passages of play Poland managed to string together in Glasgow, the finest probably being the one below:
Often guilty as Poland were of overplaying or making mistakes in their build-up on Thursday, there is clearly a real appetite to see the national team play this style of football and for all the times it hasn’t worked under Probierz there is also plenty of evidence to the contrary.
Perhaps it’s traditional to be critical, but Poland are making real strides in their style of play and I’m sure we will see that same confidence this evening.
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