Spain vs Poland
Spain produced one of the most dominant performances in the opening matchday of Euro 2020 against Sweden, but their poor finishing saw them come away with only a point.
La Roja need to be much more ruthless in front of goal in their next match against Poland, who are bottom of Group E after losing their opening match to Slovakia.
Despite having arguably the best goalscorer in Europe in Robert Lewandowski, the Poles continue to underperform on the big stage and are in danger of crashing out of the tournament if they lose to La Roja, who are significant favourites according to the Euro 2020 betting odds.
Talking Points
Spain need to put shooting boots on
Spain simply dominated their opening match against Sweden. They created several Euro 2020 highlights, controlled a whopping 85 per cent of possession en route to a record-setting passing performance and had a 17-4 advantage in shots.
But the big problem that has plagued Spain for several years now – the lack of a top-class, goalscoring striker – popped up once again as they played out a scoreless draw.
Despite his impressive scoring record for La Roja (19 goals in 41 caps), Alvaro Morata continues to frustrate his own fans with his lack of clinicalness in front of goal.
Morata missed two glorious opportunities that could have given Spain the win. But in fairness to him, he was hardly the only offender as his teammates also failed to convert their chances.
Spain manager Luis Enrique did just about everything he could do for his team to succeed. He set them up perfectly and even subbed out his entire starting front three of Morata, Dani Olmo, and Ferran Torres in search of a goal, but his players let them down.
While Luis Enrique publicly defended Morata after the match, there is a chance he replaces Morata for Gerard Moreno as his starting centre-forward.
Moreno had three shots after coming on as a substitute with 15 minutes to go against Sweden and could do even more damage if he plays from the start.
Poland off to poor start
Poland got their tournament off to a poor start as they lost to 2-1 to Slovakia, the weakest team in their group.
They were quite unlucky with Wojciech Szczesny’s own goal, which gave Slovakia the early lead. However, Poland still had their chances — 17 shots in total, five of which falling to European Golden Shoe winner Robert Lewandowski — but they could not convert enough of them.
They were also dealt the huge blow of Grzegorz Krychowiak’s sending off just after the hour mark, which will see him suspended against Spain. Poland will struggle to win the midfield battle without the veteran defensive midfielder, who has 81 international caps, and manager Paulo Sousa does not have any good options to replace him.
Poland are already shorthanded with strikers Arkadiusz Milik and Krzysztof Piatek both out injured, which places even more pressure on Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski to carry the attack.
For all his record-breaking brilliance with Bayern Munich, Lewandowski’s performance in major international tournaments has been quite underwhelming. He now has just two goals in 12 matches at a World Cup or European Championship.
Lewandowski can certainly pop up at any moment with a goal, but with Spain capable of controlling possession so well, Poland’s star striker might not have many chances to score.
History
Spain’s record against Poland is nearly perfect. They have won eight of 10 meetings, with only one draw and one defeat, which came in a friendly in 1980.
Since then, Spain have won six of their last seven matches. The most recent of which came in 2010, when Spain smashed Poland 6-0.
Betting Tip
 |
 |
Spain vs Poland | Under 2.50 @ 2.08 |
| June 20, 03:00 (GMT+8) |
SBOTOP odds have Spain as significant 1.37 favourites over Poland, who are priced at 7.80. Meanwhile, a draw is 4.60.
Clearly, Spain are the superior side with home advantage in Seville. While the goalscoring woes against Sweden were concerning, their overall performance was quite promising. Luis Enrique is a top manager who gets his players in positions to succeed, and if they create as many chances as they did against the Swedes, they will eventually score a few of them.
Poland don’t figure to pose much of a problem, especially without Krychowiak in midfield. But still, it’s unlikely there will be too many goals in this game, so take the total to go under 2.50 goals.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
|
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
