Poland v Slovakia Tips: Old campaigners the key to betting in Group E clash

Poland kick off their Euro campaign as they lock horns with Group E outsiders Slovakia, all live on ITV.

Despite a horrid run of form coming into this competition, Poland should fancy their chances of progressing from this wide open Group. With Spain expected to take top spot, the bookies have both Sweden and Poland around 2/5 for qualification, so a win here vs Slovakia is vital.

Slovakia have surprisingly made it to the round of 16 stage in both of their last 2 major tournaments and head into this match unbeaten in their last 5 games – 4D 1W. This is the first meeting between the two sides since 2013 and is actually the first ever time they’ve crossed paths at a major.

My first bet is courtesy of the current world player of the year, Robert Lewandowski. The Bayern Munich Striker now holds the record of most goals scored in a Bundesliga season, a staggering 41 goals in just 29 games and I fancy him to notch again.

Despite only 1 goal in his last 10 for his country at major tournaments, I feel this is the perfect time to mark his name on the international level, vs a side expected to finish bottom of the group.

Backing this with Bet365 gives us our stake back if the game ends 0-0 and with under 2.5 goals set at 8/15, we could be in for a cagey affair in this group E opener.

The ageing Polish midfielder is always a shout for a card and I’m surprised to see him priced as big as 3/1 here given his card record - He collected 10 yellows in 26 games playing in the Russian Premier League this season.

The 3/1 on offer suggests a 25% chance of success. The hot headed veteran has been booked in 27 of his last 79 league appearances which equates to a card in 34% of his games. He was also booked in Poland’s final friendly prior to the Euros vs Iceland, so I’m sure the occasion should only help his chances of being booked.

I’ve already got Lewandowski to score as a single but for the long shot I’m going one better and having it to be first. The bookies clearly aren’t expecting many goals here with the goal line set at 2 so having a first goal scorer punt is always worth a tickle, even more so when it’s Robert Lewandowski! Combining this with my card pick in Krychowiak gives us a 14/1 shot for some added interest Monday evening.