Poland vs Moldova prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-10-14 18:45.
Alternating wins and losses since the start of this European Championship Qualification (ECQ) campaign, Poland continued this pattern by securing a 2-0 victory in the Faroe Islands on Thursday which followed a defeat by the same scoreline in Albania. Michał Probierz, appointed as Poland's new boss in late September, has therefore experienced the best possible start with his team now sitting second in Group E, but they hold only a tenuous one-point lead over Czech Republic and their next opponent, Moldova.
Despite having played one more match than their closest opponents, Probierz's men have the advantage of playing their last two games of this campaign at home, where they haven't lost an ECQ match since September 2006 (W15, D3). But the Eagles must secure victories in these two contests to keep alive their chances of appearing at a fifth consecutive major tournament.
With a game in hand, and after winning their last two ECQ outings, including a 3-2 victory against Poland, Moldova have never had a better opportunity to make their first-ever participation in a major tournament. A 3-1 friendly loss against Sweden this week isn’t ideal preparation for the Tricolour ahead of this trip to Warsaw, but it marks only their second international defeat of 2023 (W2, D3).
As evidence of the progress made, Serghei Cleșcenco's men ended a 13-year wait for both a first victory and a first clean sheet away in Euro qualifiers with a 1-0 win in the Faroe Islands in September. Aiming to claim their first away H2H win (L2), the Moldovans will hope that victory brings around a change in fortunes on their travels as it ended a 14 match winless run in ECQ away matches (D2, L12).
Key battle: Poland could rely on Sebastian Szymański for a good start as he’s found the net within the first 20 minutes in his last three goalscoring appearances for club and country. Captain Vadim Rață could steal the spotlight after scoring Moldova’s last two away goals in Euro qualifiers, both as the game’s first scorer.
Hot stat: Five of Poland’s previous seven home ECQs have seen one goal scored beyond the 80th minute.