Preview: Poland vs Croatia – Prediction, Team News, Lineups

Separated by just one place and three points in the League A Group 1 ranking in the UEFA Nations League, Poland And Croatia compete on Tuesday in Warsaw.

The hosts were defeated by league leaders Portugal 3-1 on matchday three, during the 2018 World Cup finalist came from behind to win 2-1 against Scotland and remain in control of their knockout destiny.

Game preview

© Imago

Trying to gain the upper hand Roberto MartínezThe Portuguese juggernaut proved too much of a challenge for Poland on Saturday evening Bernardo Silva And Cristiano Ronaldo gave the Selecao a two-goal lead before the half-time whistle.

Piotr Zielinski halved the deficit late on and supposedly set up a thrilling finale, only for Jan Bednarek managed to pass the ball past their own goalkeeper and restore Portugal's two-goal lead in the dying embers of this defeat, Poland's fourth from the last six games.

Victory in a five-goal thriller against Scotland was initially the perfect complement to their early exit from the European Championship group stage, but after being defeated by Croatia and Portugal in back-to-back games, the Eagles are now in third place Section.

Such a ranking would be coercive Michal ProbierzScotland's team is trying to salvage its League A status via the relegation/promotion play-offs in the spring, but Scotland only needs to close the gap by three points on Poland, who are in serious danger of relegation from the start of the Nations League stage.

The Eagles were also beaten in each of their last three home games of the competition, scoring just one goal, despite facing three European heavyweights in Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands.

© Imago

While Poland had to regret what could have happened against Ronaldo and Co., Croatia made sure of it Ryan ChristieScotland's opening game in Zagreb would prove largely inconsequential Zlatko DalicThe men fought back to leave Steve Clarke's men are still looking for their first point in this section.

Igor Matanovic And Andrei Kramaric had the requisite reaction to the Christie's opener before Che Adams I thought for a moment that he had restored parity for the visitors, but the VAR was able to parry the Torino striker and put Croatia in position to celebrate back-to-back Nations League wins.

Aiming to repeat or even better their run to the final last year, when Spain denied them the long-awaited international title, the Checkered Ones are currently on course for quarter-final qualification and sit in second place, three points behind perfect Portugal .

After losing each of their first five Nations League games played outside Croatia, the 2018 World Cup finalists have now prevailed in four of their last five games played outside their home country. The outlier was the narrow defeat against Portugal a month ago.

However, Croatia immediately responded to this setback with a 0-0 win over Poland – Luka Modric was responsible for the winner that day, meaning the Checkered Ones won four of six against the Eagles, whose only success in this contest was a friendly in 2006.

Form of the Polish Nations League:

Poland form (all competitions):

Croatian Nations League form:

Croatia form (all competitions):

Team news

© Imago

Poland lost the trio Bartlomiej Dragowski, Mateusz Skrzypczak And Kacper Kozlowski before their defeat against Portugal, where defender Sebastian Walukiewicz was sent off at half-time.

However, this change may have been tactical on Probierz's part, as he picked up a yellow card immediately after the final whistle; Either way, Arsenal Jakub Kiwior is a viable alternative.

Top performer and goalscorer Robert Lewandowski failed to add to his 84 goals for the national team on Saturday, but the Barcelona star will certainly reprise his role in attack on Tuesday, possibly with a new partner Krzysztof Piatek.

When it comes to visitors, Croatia is Manchester City's hub Mateo Kovacic was not seen against Scotland due to the birth of his child, although Dalic hopes he can take part in Tuesday's contest.

Mario Pasalic was named alongside the eternal Modric at the weekend, but the Atalanta BC midfielder was hooked at half-time, meaning Kovacic will likely have to be brought in to replace his ex-Chelsea colleague if he returns in time.

Whether Modric is capable of starting two games in quick succession is another question – the 39-year-old played the full 90 minutes on Saturday and could need a break.

Possible starting lineup for Poland:
Skorupski; Dawidowicz, Bednarek, Kiwior; Frankowski, Zielinski, Szymanski, Urbanski, Zalewski; Piatek, Lewandowski

Possible starting lineup for Croatia:
Livakovic; Gvardiol, Caleta-Car, Sutalo; Perisic, Modric, Kovacic, Sosa; Sucic, Matanovic, Kramaric

We say: Poland 1:1 Croatia

Lewandowski can't do everything for Poland on his own as they haven't been able to win for a few months now, although Croatia was lucky enough to get the full spoils against Scotland.

While the visitors may be just off the mark on paper, it would be no surprise to see a low-scoring stalemate in Warsaw as both teams remain firmly in the race for the coveted top two finish.

For data analysis of the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this game, please click here.

Previews via email