Czech Republic host Poland in their opening Group E fixture in the 2024 European Championships qualifiers.
The home team missed out on the Qatar 2022 World Cup and will be keen to make it to the next big tournament. They will fancy their chances against the teams in Group E and are likely to consider Poland as their biggest threat.
The problem for Czech Republic is that they have only claimed a 5-0 victory over Faroe Islands in their last seven matches across all competitions. Jan Silhavy’s men have lost five of their last six matches and were beaten 2-1 by Turkey in their previous outing back in November.
A small positive for Czech Republic is that they have done some good work in front of their fans having lost just once in their last nine home matches. They have beaten the likes of Estonia and Belarus in that run but have played out draws with Spain and Wales.
Unlike Czech Republic, Poland featured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup and progressed to the round of 16 of the tournament. They were beaten in their final two fixtures, losing 2-0 to Argentina in their final group outing before suffering a 3-1 defeat to France in the knockout stage.
Poland will view this campaign as a fresh start with new manager Fernando Santos and will be keen to seal a place in the competition in 2024. With the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski, they appear stronger than some of the teams in the group and will consider Czech Republic as their biggest threat.
Prior to the World Cup, Poland had done some good work on their travels with just one defeat in their last seven away matches. There have been comfortable victories over minnows like San Marino and Andorra while they also earned draws in Scotland and Netherlands.
How the bookies view it
Czech Republic have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 25/19 by SBK to claim the win. A victory for Poland is valued at 23/10 by SBK while Paddy Power is also offering odds of 23/10 for a draw.
Head to head
Czech Republic and Poland have claimed four wins each from eight previous matches. The most recent meeting was a friendly in 2018 which ended 1-0 in favour of the Czechs.
Players to watch
Jan Kuchta comes into the international break in good form having scored seven goals in his last seven matches for Sparta Prague. The forward could be worth keeping an eye on to score anytime at 12/5 with bet365.
As always, much of Poland’s attacking threat will come through captain Robert Lewandowski, who has impressed for Spanish side Barcelona this season. The striker also has two goals in his last three international appearances and is priced at 8/5 by bet365 to find the net on Friday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Czech Republic and Poland have quality going forward and both teams can be backed to score at 8/9 with SBK. The Czechs have produced over 3.5 goals in their last three home matches and could be set for a repeat at 10/3 with BetVictor, who are also offering odds of 6/5 for over 2.5 goals.
There have been more goals after the break in Poland’s last two matches and Friday’s clash can be tipped to follow a similar pattern at 6/5 with Paddy Power.
This Euro 2024 match between Czech Republic and Poland will be played on Mar 24, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Czech Republic vs Poland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
It will be the first game of Fernando Santos as Poland’s manager.
He will not loose it.
POLAND DNB 23/20