Poland vs Colombia
World Cup 2018 Group H
Date: Sunday, 24 June 2018
Kick-Off at 19:00 UK / 20:00 CET
Venue: Kazan Arena, Kazan.
- Both Poland and Colombia head into this hoping to rebound from initial failures against Senegal and Japan.
- Robert Lewandowski made no impact whatsoever against the stern defensive line of Senegal’s. Can he inspire the Poles’ success in his second ever World Cup affair?
- James Rodriguez should feature the starting line-up for Colombia after coming on from the bench in the first game against Samurai Blue.
Poland and Colombia take on each other in a must –win situation for both teams who have suffered disappointing defeats in their opening fixtures at the World Cup. Group’s favourites are thus in danger of getting eliminated after only two rounds as there will be no room for mistake for either of the sides on Monday at Kazan Arena.
Poland Colombia Match Preview
Poland were the seeded team in a generally open Group H, but they failed to justify the tag losing 1-2 to African hopefuls Senegal in the opening fixture. Adam Nawalka’s men actually showed nothing of the game which led them to the top spot in the respective qualifying group with eight wins in ten matches.
The Poles just did not have an answer to the Senegalese super stern defensive line with Salif Sane and Kalidou Koulibaly shutting Robert Lewandowski down entirely throughout the 90 minutes of play. The 29-year-old Bayern Munich forward thus did nothing to threat the Senegalese goal in his maiden appearance at the World Cup and he will need a massive help from his uninspiring teammates against Colombia if the Europeans are to keep their hopes alive before the third-round.
To make things worse for Poland, they are about to take on a side which is also in a must-win situation here. Los Cafeteros had a nightmare kick off to their World Cup campaign as the defensive midfielder Carlos Sanchez was sent off after only three minutes of play. Shinji Kagawa was safe from the spot to push Japan ahead in the early stages of the game.
Jose Pekerman’s troops managed to recover from such shock as Juan Quintero’s clever free-kick found the back of the net below the jumping wall for the equalizer just before the break. Still, the South Americans could not hold on to the level terms as Yuya Osako provided a cool finish with a header from Keisuke Honda’s corner kick to give Samurai Blue a huge opening round victory.
Poland vs Colombia Team News and Predicted Line-ups
Poland Team News
- At some point of the game against Senegal, Nawalka shifted the 4-4-1-1 formation into 3-5-2, but such strategy did not bring too many positives for him.
- Still, we do expect such formation in the clash with the Colombians as Jakub Blaszczykowski could likely be left out here after a rather poor display in his landmark 100th appearance for the national outfit.
- Cionek, Pazdan and Bednarek will thus likely begin as the defensive trio, while Piszczek and Rybus should be wing-backs.
- Arkadiusz Milik played a horrendous game against Senegal, but Nawalka does not have an adequate substitution up front, meaning we could see him right behind Robert Lewandowski once again.
Poland Predicted Starting Eleven (3-5-2)
Szczesny – Cionek, Pazdan, Bednarek – Piszczek, Rybus, Krychowiak, Zielinski, Grosicki – Milik, Lewandowski.
Colombia Team News
- James Rodriguez started the match against Japan from the bench due to fitness woes.
- He seems to be fully recovered now and is set to lead the line together with Radamel Falcao.
- Carlos Sanchez won’t be allowed to feature after getting sent off in the match against Japan.
- Quintero could be moved at the defensive midfielder at the back, leaving space for James Rodriguez at the playmaker position.
Colombia Predicted Starting Eleven (4-2-3-1)
Ospina – Arias, Mina, Murillo, Mojica – Lerma, Quintero – Cuadrado, James Rodriguez, Izquierdo – Falcao.
Poland Colombia Head-to-head
The two sides met just once in the past. The occasion was a friendly game played at Stadion Slaski in Chorzow. Elkin Murillo and Luis Martinez notched goals in a 1-2 victory for the Colombians.
Substitute Ireneusz Jelen could only pull one back for the hosts back then netting the consolation goal in the 90th minute.
Poland Colombia Prediction
Poland have huge troubles with the efficiency at World Cups. They lost seven out of last nine World Cup affairs failing to find the back of the net on six occasions in these defeats. The first round at this edition of the tournament does not promise such poor record changing anytime soon, particularly knowing they are about to take on the high-profile opposition who are in an equal need for points on the day.
Moving forward, Nawalka’s defensive line is anything but reliable without the first-team regular centre-back Kamil Glik who suffered an injury right before the tournament kicked off. Monaco’s defender will likely skip the Colombia clash leaving Thiago Cionek as the best call to make the starting line-up in spite of scoring a bizarre own goal to push Senegal ahead of Tuesday evening.
James Rodriguez should make the starting line-up for Colombia who have to be considered pretty clear favourites to go past the un-inspiring Polish side here. Los Cafeteros are well worth backing to win at 2.25, while braver punters could fancy the HT/FT victory for the South Americans at the 3.60 odds.
- Predicted Full-Time Result is a comfortable 2-0 victory for Colombia.
Poland vs Colombia Betting Tips
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Colombia to win @ 2.25.
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HT/FT Colombia/Colombia @ 3.60.
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Correct FT Score: 2-0 Colombia @ 11.00.
