Poland – North. Ireland

Poland will hope to start their Euro 2016 campaign with a win over Northern Ireland in Group C, while the Brits will be pumped up to claim a positive result in their first ever European Championship match.

The Poles are entering this tournament with great expectations, hoping to qualify from a Group that also features Germany and Ukraine. Poland has a very good generation of players, led by the excellent Lewandowski, who is having a huge impact on this side – comparable or even bigger to what Bale does for Wales or Neymar for Brazil. Poland qualified easily to the Euros, beating Germany along the way and has lost just two matches in over 2 years.

Northern Ireland won its qualifying group, but they benefited from competing against poor sides like Romania, Hungary or Greece, who was simply awful and a non factor in those qualies. A case can also be made that Romania was actually the best team in that group, even though they only finished second. As such, Northern Ireland’s group winning campaign was a great achievement, but it isn`t telling us anything else other than the fact they are a solid side – not less, not more. The Brits rely on a bunch of Premier League and Championship players, playing a rather defensive and physical brand of football.

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Team news & lineups:

Craig Cathcart (Northern Ireland) is questionable, but otherwise the two Nations should be able to field their best lineups from their 23 man squads.

Poland: Szczesny – Piszczek, Glik, Salamon, Jedrzejczyk – Blaszczykowski, Krychowiak, Zielinski, Grosicki – Milik, Lewandowski

Northern Ireland: McGovern – McAuley, Cathcart, Evans – McLaughlin, Baird, Davis, Norwood, Dallas – Ward, Lafferty

Poland lost to Netherlands and was held to a 0-0 draw by Lithuania in their two pre – Euro 2016 test matches, but I don`t believe those results in friendlies should be a reason for worry.

The visitors will definitely put up a fight, as they have not lost in 12 matches (none against top sides) and are very difficult to break down. However, I don`t think they match up well against Poland. Their defense and their physicality, which are their main weapons, might not be effecive against a Polish side that is tall, strong and scores a lot of goals – while being superior to Northern Ireland in the other facets of the game. Poland scored no less than 33 goals in 10 Euro 2016 qualifying matches, more than any other team.

Lewandowski and Poland’s general ability to find the net should be the decisive factor against a Northern Irish team that does not pose much offensive threat, especially with Lafferty out of form. Even one goal could be enough for Poland – and with Lewandowski leading the line you have to expect them to bang in at least one or two.

All in all, I expect a rather boring match, with Poland holding the ball and pressing in Northern Ireland’s half. Eventually quality, individual class and the debatable matchup advantage should prove enough for Poland to get a winning result in this encounter. My tip here is a Poland win, I would also not be at all surprised if Lewandowski scores at least a goal. Odds are dropping for the bet on Poland to win. Prediction: Poland – Northern Ireland 2-0.

Pick: Poland
Odds: 1.73 @ Ohmbet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 5.84
Event date: 12 June