Germany are all set to hit the road and square up against Poland in a friendly at the National Stadium in Warsaw on Friday.
Poland are all set to host Germany in the beautiful city of Warsaw. The visitors will look to return to winning ways after having played out a draw in their last fixture. Meanwhile, Poland will look to prepare for their upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying fixture.
Fernando Santos’s reign as Poland’s manager did not get off to the perfect start as they lost their opening qualifying fixture in Group E against the Czech Republic 3-1. However, the former Portugal manager did redeem himself with a 1-0 win against Albania.
With a fixture against Moldova around the corner, Santos will look to use this fixture against Germany as a preparation. His main focus will be to get things right before they take on Moldova in search of a spot in their fifth successive Euros.
Hansi Flick’s men played out a 3-3 draw against Ukraine in their 1000th international game and will be eager to return to winning ways when they square up against Poland. Germany being the hosts of the Euro 2024 will only be involved in friendly fixtures in 2023. As a result, they will have to make sure they take them seriously and get the balance right before heading into the continental tournament.
While quite a few of their star players were missing, they still had a good enough squad at their disposal. And, should have come out on top, but they failed to do so. Flick was not really happy with the result and he will look to make sure that they get this one right against Robert Lewandowski’s team.
Germany have the upper hand against Poland having lost only once in their 21 matches. And, they will be hoping to add to it this time out. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at this fixture and tries to predict the tactics they could use.
Team News & Tactics
Poland
The UEFA Euro 2016 winning coach Fernando Santos will be without the services of Matty Cash and Arkadiusz Reca who are out injured. Apart from the duo, he is expected to have a fully-fit squad at his disposal.
Jakub Błaszczykowski arrived at the Poland national team training camp today. 🇵🇱
The return of the Polish football legend is official. ⭐️
Now time to prepare for the big match against Germany. 💪
📸 TW/Łączy nas piłka pic.twitter.com/JW4buyTMGl
— PSN Futbol (@PSN_Futbol) June 15, 2023
Santos is expected to go ahead with the 4-3-3 formation, where Wojciech Szczesny will be in goal. Bartosz Bereszynski and Jakub Kiwior will start out wide as the full-backs. Meanwhile, Jan Bednarek will pair up, with Mateusz Wieteska in the heart of the defence.
Karol Swiderski, Karol Linetty, and Piotr Zieliński will form the midfield three. All eyes will be on Zielinski who is heading into this on the back of a terrific season with Napoli. As far as the attack goes, Jakub Kaminski and Nicola Zalewski will start out wide as the winger and will look to support the La Liga top scorer Robert Lewandowski who will be leading the attack.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Szczesny; Bereszynski, Bednarek, Wieteska, Kiwior; Swiderski, Linetty, Zielinski; Kamiński, Lewandowski, Zalewski
Germany
Hansi Flick is expected to make a few changes to the XI that took the field against Ukraine. He has a strong enough squad of players to choose from but will be without the services of Kevin Schade, who is out injured.
Kai 🆚 Marc pic.twitter.com/PtpoS7JzHt
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) June 14, 2023
Flick is expected to start with the 3-4-3 formation, where Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be in goal. Antonio Rudiger, Nico Schlotterbeck and Lukas Klostermann will be the back three for the fixture against Poland.
Marius Wolf and Benjamin Henrichs will start out wide as the wing-backs. And, skipper Joshua Kimmich will start as the central midfielder alongside the young star Jamal Musiala. As far as the attack is concerned, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner will be the wingers. Meanwhile, the joint top scorer of the Bundesliga 2022/23 season, Niclas Fullkrug will be leading the attack.
Probable Lineup (3-4-3): ter Stegen; Klostermann, Rüdiger, Schlotterbeck; Wolf, Kimmich, Musiala, Henrichs; Havertz, Fullkrug, Werner
Key Stats
- Poland have been unbeaten in their last six friendly matches.
- Hansi Flick’s team have only won four out of their last 14 matches in all competitions.
- Germany have only lost one out of their 21 matches against Poland.
- Niclas Fullkrug ended the 2022-23 season as Bundesliga’s joint-top scorer with 16 goals.
- Hansi Flick has lost only three out of his first 22 matches as Germany’s coach.
Player to Watch
Piotr Zielinski
While all the limelight will be on Robert Lewandowski given his goal-scoring record, Zielinski might be the one to keep an eye on. The 29-year-old has been in sensational form for Napoli in the Serie A. And his performances have captured the attention of several top clubs, including Liverpool.
He played an important role in helping Napoli win the league after three long decades. The former Udinese midfielder was involved in 48 matches. He managed to score seven goals and created a total of 11 goals for his teammates. Zielinski is heading into this fixture in red-hot form and will look to have a major say in this fixture.
Prediction
Poland 2-3 Germany
Expect it to be another high-scoring fixture involving Hansi Flick’s team. Germany prefer going all-out attack, and they will look to do something similar. They have a great track record against the Polish side having lost just once. And, the visitors will look to add to it when they face Fernando Santos’ men away from home.
As far as Poland is concerned, they will look to create an upset and given the improving quality of their squad, they might give Germany a tough fight and end up finding the back of the net on multiple occasions. But, even that might not help them come out on top. The Hard Tackle predicts a 3-2 win for Germany.
