Poland – Serbia. Mark O’Haire’s prediction

Poland continue their preparations for their third successive crack at the European Championships this summer with a non-competitive clash with Serbia from Poznan on Wednesday night.

Adam Nawalka has moulded an industrious and formidably confident attacking side designed to serve Robert Lewandowski. Alongside the often-lethal Arek Milik, the White-Reds two forwards contributed 19 of the 33 goals that Poland racked up during Euro 2016 qualification.

It’s a far cry from the opening months under Nawalka’s tenure – Poland notched just once in the head coach’s first six fixtures. However, the hosts have since scored in all bar one of their previous 16 outings, netting at least twice on 12 occasions.

As hosts, the White-Red are unbeaten in 10 (W7-D3-L0) and have shown good friendly form over the past two years (W7-D4-L2). If we look at all of Poland’s results from the past 12 months – W9-D6-L1 – we can see they’re clearly in good nick.

Opponents Serbia endured a chaotic campaign. A talented but deeply fractious squad failed to produce the goods in Group I, finishing fourth of five with just four points to their name.

The Serbs were stripped of three points due to the violent scenes that marred their match with Albania in Belgrade and put alongside their dreadful road record (W1-D1-L3 in qualifying), the Eagles’ qualification dreams went up in smoke.

Dick Advocaat began the failed campaign in charge but walked out in October 2014 with Radovan Curcic taking over the lead role since. His W4-D0-L7 return has continued Serbia’s underperforming theme with their last outing a comprehensive 4-1 defeat to Czech Republic in a November friendly.

The Eagles have been beaten in all three of their non-competitive matches since 2014 and lost four of their last five on the road too. I’d fancy Poland to extend that streak on Wednesday night.

However, seeing as it’s a friendly we might as well have a nibble on something a bit bigger. Despite Serbia’s recent poor form, the visitors have only failed to score just twice in their last 20 matches and in no fewer than 10 of their last 12 away.

With those strong scoring stats in mind, plus Poland’s potent attackers on show, this could be quite an intriguing contest. I’ll have a wee wager on the Poles to win and Both Teams To Score at 4/1 (Betfair) for interest – it’s proven profitable in five of Serbia’s last six losses and all four of Poland’s most recent victories.