Malta vs Poland preview: Final World Cup qualifier before the playoffs raises good problems for Jan Urban

Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter

Poland are taking on Malta later today in what will be the final World Cup qualifier Poland play prior to next spring’s play-offs. 

Realistically, there is little for Poland to play for here, having secured passage to the play-offs already thanks to results on Friday. In practice however, things are quite different and Jan Urban was at pains to point that out in yesterday’s press conference. 

Urban said that even when it may appear there is little to play for, the fact that it will be a group of players gaining more familiarity playing with one another, as well as an opportunity for Poland to go out onto the pitch as clear favourites, something which isn’t that common an occurrence in recent times. 

Indeed, there hasn’t really been a dominant performance of Poland as favourites in a match since some of the World Cup qualifiers under Paulo Sousa, such as the 7-1 win away to San Marino in September 2021, or the home fixture against the same opponent the following month. I suppose you could also classify last year’s Euro play-off win against Estonia as such an example, although the confidence wasn’t flowing in exactly the same way in the build-up to that match. 

It therefore feels like a long time since we’ve seen Poland absolutely thrash an opponent, and although everyone acknowledges Poland to be favourites here, it is also entirely possible that Malta can spring an “unpleasant surprise”, as Urban put it. You do feel though that this is a great chance for Poland to really make a statement here ahead of the play-offs, as best they can at least. 

There are potential suspension issues around yellow cards, namely Piotr Zieliński, Nicola Zalewski and Jan Ziółkowski. Urban has said that if players aren’t picked, it won’t be anything to do with yellow cards. On the flip side, Przemysław Wiśniewski and Bartosz Slisz are now back from suspension, having missed the game against Holland on Friday night. 

This morning, we’ve seen suggestions that the line-up below is what we’ll be seeing tonight:

Personally, I think going strong like this is the best and most likely plan, given Urban’s comments about familiarity as well as the fact Poland won’t be playing again until March. However, I do expect to see a lot of rotation off the bench tonight, but as for whom will likely depend on the score and game situation.

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