Czech Republic vs Poland – 24/03/2023
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We have plenty of games to enjoy as qualifying for the 2024 European Championship begins this week, including the meeting between Czech Republic and Poland.
The match will be played on the 24th of March at the Eden Arena in Prague. Albania, Moldova, and Faroe Islands complete the group.
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Poland will play against Czech Republic (March 24) and Albania (March 27).
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Czech Republic last played in a friendly match in November and they lost 2-1 away to Turkey. It was Turkey who opened the scoring in the 31st minute but Czech Republic equalised 11 minutes into the second half. Turkey claimed the win thanks to their second goal in the 70th minute.
That result means Czech Republic have recorded just a single victory in their last 7 fixtures. The win came at home in a friendly against Faroe Islands but Czech Republic have lost 5 of their last 6 games.
Four of those defeats have come in the Nations League and Czech Republic lost at home to Portugal plus suffered away defeats at the hands of Spain, Switzerland, and Portugal.
However, trends show Czech Republic have won their last 4 home matches in the European qualifiers.
They are undefeated in 9 of their 10 most recent home European Championship qualifying games and the most recent wins have come against Bulgaria, Montenegro, England, and Kosovo. Czech Republic have scored 2 or more goals in 8 of their last 10 home European Championship qualifying fixtures.
Poland make the trip to Prague on the back of a 3-1 loss to France in the round of 16 stage at the 2022 World Cup. Poland conceded the opening goal on the stroke of half time and could not get back into the game in the second half. Poland’s goal was a consolation at the end of the match from the penalty spot.
The defeat to France means Poland have won only 1 of their 4 most recent fixtures, all of which came at the 2022 World Cup. The win came over Saudi Arabia in their second group game plus there was a draw with Mexico and a 2-0 defeat to Argentina. Poland have recorded only 3 wins from their 10 most recent games in all competitions, including friendlies.
Trends show Poland have not lost a match in 23 of their last 25 matches in the European Championship qualifiers. Away form shows Poland have won 4 of their last 5 away European Championship qualifying games.
Team news and Czech Republic will be without key striker Patrik Schick, who is injured. Much of the squad comes from the Czech First League and German Bundesliga.
Poland can call upon Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski but Arkadiusz Milik is injured. Piotr Zieliński is enjoying a great season for Napoli and will play in midfield.
This is going to be a closely fought contest between two teams who believe they can qualify from this group.
Home advantage could be what makes the difference in this opening game of the group and Czech Republic could take maximum points, keeping a clean sheet in the process.
