Poland vs. Slovakia 6/14/21 - Euro Cup Picks & Predictions

Poland plays Slovakia in a first round fixture of Euro 2020 on Monday in St. Petersburg Russia. Poland won eight of its 10 matches during qualifying and will ride the shoulders of star Robert Lewandowski, who is the all-time leading goal scorer for Poland. The striker plays for Bayern Munich and is coming off a 48-goal season. Poland’s 32-year old skipper is looking to lead Poland deep into the knockout stages.

However, Poland has suffered injuries to forwards Arkadiusz Milik and Krzysztof Piątek, which will put even more pressure on Lewandoski to score for the club. Poland's back line has been strong in Euro play, not conceding more than one goal in any match since debuting in 2008 against Germany. The strength in goal for Poland will take off some pressure from the shoulders of Lewandoski to score.

Slovakia played well in Euro 2016, reaching the knockout stages which was an excellent achievement after entering the tournament expecting to be knocked out during the group stage. Slovakia qualified for Euro 2020 with a playoff victory over Northern Ireland. Since defeating Northern Ireland in Belfast, Slovakia has lost only one of seven matches.

Slovakia’s captain Marek Hamsik did not play in each of the club's friendlies leading up to the tournament because of an injured calf and if able to play on Monday will be far from 100%. Slovakia has scored in six of its last seven matches versus Poland, but could find it hard to find the net if Hamsik is not able to play or is slowed by the calf injury.