Poland vs Netherlands predictions: Poles to be no match for Oranje

Aidan Perkins
Spotlight
Ronald Koeman's side face Poland in their Euro 2024 Group D opener
Ronald Koeman's side face Poland in their Euro 2024 Group D opener

- Netherlands have beaten Canada and Iceland 4-0 in warm-up games
- Poland without star striker Robert Lewandowski
- Recommended bet:
Over 2.5 total Netherlands goals

Netherlands have had to deal with injury problems in the build-up to Euro 2024, but they should still kick off their campaign with victory over Poland in Group D.

The Dutch are in a tough group alongside highly-fancied France, Austria and their first opponents, Poland, but Ronald Koeman's squad should be more than good enough to qualify for the knockout phase.

They can showcase their talents early on in Hamburg by comfortably seeing off the Poles, who could struggle to make an impact in the tournament.

Team news

Poland's talismanic striker and captain Robert Lewandowski has been ruled out of the first group game with a muscle injury, so Michal Probierz is set to choose between Krzysztof Piatek and Adam Buksa to replace him.

The Poles do have plenty of experience, with Wojciech Szczesny, Jan Bednarek, Jakub Kiwior and Piotr Zielinski all expected to start on Sunday.

Ronald Koeman called up uncapped striker Joshua Zirkzee and Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen to the Netherlands squad after midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners were both ruled out of the tournament due to injury.

Striker Brian Brobbey has not trained fully in the build-up to the Poland clash and is a slight doubt.

Robert Lewandowski is a big miss for Poland against the Dutch
Robert Lewandowski is a big miss for Poland against the Dutch

The stats

Netherlands qualified comfortably for the tournament, finishing second behind France in Group B.

Poland scraped into Euro 2024 via the play-offs, beating Wales on penalties after first seeing off Estonia.

Netherlands have won eight of their last 10 matches, losing the other two, both 2-1, to France and Germany.

Koeman's side have scored at least four goals in four of their last five matches.

The Dutch are ranked seventh in the world by FIFA, Poland are down in 28th place.

Prediction

Despite losing Barcelona star De Jong and Atalanta midfielder Koopmeiners to injury in the build-up to the tournament, the Dutch squad still looks packed full of quality and they should be capable of competing with France for top spot in Group D.

At the back they have plenty of options with Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Micky van de Ven and Matthijs De Ligt among their stand-out performers, while in midfield Ryan Gravenberch, Joey Veerman and Georginio Wijnaldum will be battling for a start alongside the likes of Tijjani Reijnders and Jerdy Schouten.

In attack Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay look dangerous and the Dutch appear to have the creativity and firepower to outclass Poland, who will undoubtedly miss their main man up front, Lewandowski, in the opener.

Netherlands have warmed up with successive 4-0 victories over Canada and Iceland and they should be in the mood for more goals in Hamburg, where they can bag at least three.

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Tags

NetherlandsPolandEuropean Championship