The State of Play
Rob Page is aiming to lead Wales to a third successive tournament and a fourth tournament in five attempts as a nation since breaking a duck of over 50 years when they qualified for UEFA EURO 2016. They were exceptional, albeit occasionally weak at the back, as they hammered Finland by four goals to one at the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday evening and they do have the major bonus of home advantage in this one.
Poland, still captained by Robert Lewandowski, did not need a goal from the Barcelona striker on Thursday as they demolished ten-man Estonia by five goals to one in Warsaw. They endured an extremely difficult qualifying campaign under Fernando Santos; so much so, he was replaced by Michal Probierz as they try and find some tactical identity ahead of this playoff final.
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Team News
There were no injury concerns coming out of Wales’ clash with Finland the other day. Aaron Ramsey, who has struggled to get minutes at Cardiff, has become a bit-part player for the national team.
An interesting but pretty obvious development for Poland, implemented by Probierz, was a switch to a three-at-the-back system against Estonia, which very much suited their personnel.
Expected Line-ups
Wales: Ward; Mepham, Rodon, Davies; Roberts, James, Ampadu, Williams; Brooks, Wilson; Johnson
Poland: Szczesny; Bednarek, Dawidowicz, Kiwior; Frankowski, Zielinski, Slisz, Piotrowski, Zalewski; Swiderski, Lewandowski
What they Said
Rob Page of Wales has said that his side have made ‘significant’ progress since the retirement of Gareth Bale as they bid to reach their first tournament in the post-Bale era.
Robert Lewandowski spoke of his ‘anger’ in the build-up towards Poland’s semi-final with Estonia and said their results against Moldova, where they took a point from two matches, were a ‘humiliation’ for his nation.
When and How to Watch
This match takes place at 19:45 on Tuesday March 26th at the Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff and will be televised live on Viaplay Sports 1 or S4C in the UK. It will be able to be streamed live via the Viaplay Sports app in the UK.
Prediction
This one is set up to be a classic ‘under the lights’ atmosphere in Cardiff with an emotionally led Wales side welcoming a Poland side looking to rediscover the obvious talent it has within its ranks. Wales will take the game to the eastern Europeans with their group of young, vibrant attackers but Poland, even when Lewandowski isn’t necessarily firing, have more strength in attack than Finland, who caused problems for the Welsh last week. Both teams scoring seems likely.
