Pre-match preview: Poland vs Greece

Needles to say, Poland and Greece are not the big name in the European football scene, however the match is still promised to be an exciting one as the contrast in playing style and motivation behind each team.

The encounter between these two teams is the encounter between offense and defense football. At Group stage, Poland has huge advantage with the support by home fans and possesses a quality and young squad. They are the candidate to go through to next round. Meanwhile, the former champion of 8 years ago, Greece, is not rated  highly at the tournament this year. The team is still following Otto Rehhagel's defense style however they are no longer has the necessary attack power. Good defense might help the team get some draws, but not enough to help them through to knock out stage.

Lewandowski as the pillar of Poland squad

Poland team has the average age of 25,13 - the second youngest squad after Germany. They are considered the best generation of Poland for the last decade, with the trio defender Lukasz Piszckek, midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski and striker Robert Lewandowski, who are playing for Borussia Dortmund. Moreover, protecting Poland's box is Wojciech Szczesny, the goalkeeper playing for Arsenal. Attention will be given to Lewandoski, who scored 32 goals for Dortmund in the last season. He will pose a great threat to Greece in the coming match.

Under the reign of Franciszek Smuda, the "white eagle" applies an offensive playing style, depending on the flexibility of the midfielders and scoring ability of Lewandowski. With the support of home fans, they are likely to be aggressive after the whistle blown tonight. The favorite formation of Smuda, 4-2-3-1, takes advantage of attacking ability of Blaszczykowski and Obraniak.

Greece will depend more on the teamwork

While Poland depends on offense, Greece concentrates on their defense. The Olympian team do not have any prominent name, and rely much on their defense and teamwork. Captain Karagounis, veterans Kostas Katsourains and Kostas Chalkias, who were at the glorious era 8 years ago, continue to lead the team. 

Furthermore, if you look at recent form of Greece under Fernando Santos' era, the Poland fans might have something to worry about. Since appointed Greece coach July 2010, Greece only lost 1 game and unbeaten in the other 20 games. The Mediterranean team has slowly returned to the old, ugly but effective self 8 years ago. 

Head to head record, however, is in favor of Poland, with 10 wins, 2 draw and 3 losses. The goal record also leans significantly towards Poland, as they scored 29 goals and conceived only 11 goals in total 15 times the two teams met. Especially, in the most recent 8 home matches against Poland, Greece lost all and only managed to score 4 goals. 

The advantage is clearly in the hand of Poland, and Greece will have a hard time to prevent the white eagle spread its wings at Warsaw National Stadium tonight. 

Prediction: Poland - Greece: 1-0. 

M88's Euro 2012 odds:  

Recommended pick: Poland -0.25 (0-0.5) Asian Handicap is an interesting pick. The odds is set at 0.72 (Hongkong odds) for this pick. And M88 has a fantastic special promotion just for EURO 2012. Check it out HERE