The first match of the round of 16 at the European Championship will see Switzerland take on Poland on Saturday, two sides that have never reached the knockout rounds at the Euro final tournament. Switzerland have not beaten Poland since 1976, when they secured a 2-1 friendly win at home in Basel. The last meeting was a friendly in Poland in 2014, which ended 2-2, while the only competitive fixtures between the two nations have taken place in qualifying for the 1980 UEFA European Championship with the Poles winning 2-0 both home and away.
Switzerland finished second in group A with a win over Albania in the opening match followed by two draws, first a 1-1 against Romania and then a goalless stalemate against France in the last match. The group stage results extended their unbeaten run to four matches. There are no injury concerns for the head coach, but in case they go through Breel Embolo, Granit Xhaka, Valon Behrami and Fabian Schar are all just one yellow card away from suspension.
Poland finished second in their group as well, but they have impressed more than Switzerland. They secured two narrow wins over Northern Ireland and Ukraine plus a goalless draw against reigning world champions Germany, which means they have concluded the group stage without conceding a single goal. They are on a four-match unbeaten run as well, but they do have some injury concerns. Wojciech Szczesny is doubtful due to a knock he picked up during the match against Northern Ireland, while Bartosz Kapustka is suspended.
Probable line-ups:
Switzerland: Sommer - Lichtsteiner, Schar, Djourou, Rodriguez - Behrami, Xhaka - Shaqiri, Dzemaili, Mehmedi - Seferovic
Poland: Fabianski - Piszczek, Pazdan, Glik, Jedrzejczyk - Blaszczykowski, Krychowiak, Maczynski, Grosicki - Lewandowski, Milik
My prediction: Poland to win 3-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Switzerland win - 3.85
Draw - 2.88
Poland win - 2.70
06/25/16, 11:06:24 AM
