Poland – Albania

The opponents will not delight the fans with more than two goals

The first leg of European Championship qualifying a few days ago saw Poland emerge as one of the two favourites to win Group E. The Polish side's status has not changed much following their trip to Prague, but Fernando Santos has a lot to think about and draw the right conclusions. The Czech national team had already scored two goals against Szczęsny in the third minute, something rarely seen even in hockey. The Poles managed to score the only goal of the game in the 87th minute, after losing 0-3 to their opponents. In the course of the game, Santos changed the entire middle line of his team, but it did not improve. Albania missed the first round of qualifying, opting not even to play a friendly. The lack of points before the second leg makes the opponents in Warsaw neighbours in the standings. Ahead of their meeting, bookmakers opted to favour the home side, offering odds of 1.56. The Polish national team played in the World Championships in Qatar, making it through the playoffs of the European qualifiers. They did not play in the semi-finals as Russia were disqualified and in the final they crushed the Swedes at home. In the main draw, Poland did not surprise at all. Having made the playoffs with four points, the team lost straight away to the French. Before the trip to Qatar, the Polish outfit managed to secure a place in Ligue A of the Nations, finishing third in their group, behind the Netherlands and Belgium. In January, the already legendary Fernando Santos, who had previously coached Portugal for eight years, took charge of the team. Albania qualified well for the 2021 World Cup, finishing just two points behind runners-up Poland. The away encounter with the Poles ended in a 1-4 defeat. The home game was also a 0-1 defeat. However, in October last year, the opponents managed to inflict a single goal each. The upcoming game is likely to be of a similar nature. The Albanians do not need to rush things, while the Poles need to recover from their trip to Prague and improve their defensive performance.