Poland vs. Portugal: Live Stream, Odds and Form Guide for Euro 2016
Poland and Portugal will open the UEFA Euro 2016 quarter-finals on Thursday evening, when they travel to Marseille's Stade Velodrome each hoping to advance their underdog runs through the competition.
Manager Fernando Santos' Portugal team are yet to win a match in 90 minutes at this year's European Championship, and a stern Poland outfit aren't likely to bend in the face of their last-eight opponent.
Poland have already recorded their best-ever finish at a European Championship by making it this far, but they could yet make their first major tournament semi-final since 1982 with a victory on Thursday.
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We provide all the essential viewing information ahead of the opening quarter-final matchup, complete with a preview of the top storylines leading into the Marseille meeting.
| W vs. Switzerland (1-1, Penalties) | W vs. Croatia (1-0 AET) |
| W vs. Ukraine (1-0) | D vs. Hungary (3-3) |
| D vs. Germany (0-0) | D vs. Austria (0-0) |
| W vs. Northern Ireland (1-0) | D vs. Iceland (1-1) |
| D vs. Lithuania (0-0) | W vs. Estonia (7-0) |
Date: Thursday, June 30
Time: 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET
Venue: Stade Velodrome, Marseille
Live Stream: ITV Hub (UK), Watch ESPN (U.S.)
TV Info: ITV (UK), ESPN (U.S.)
| Poland Win | 29-10 |
| Draw | 2-1 |
| Portugal Win | 6-5 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo: First Goalscorer | 3-1 |
Odds provided by Odds Shark.
Low-Score Draw On the Cards
Between them, Poland (two) and Portugal (four) have drawn six of their eight combined matches at Euro 2016 in normal play, and only the latter's 3-3 draw against Hungary produced more than two goals.
FourFourTwo's Huw Davies recently commented on the shy form displayed by both teams thus far, which would appear to indicate goals may not be in an abundance in the quarter-final clash:
Portugal played out a long affair in their extra-time 1-0 win over Croatia, but defender Jose Fonte told a press conference his side is "confident" heading into Thursday's duel:
"It is important that we recover well physically, because the game against Poland will be difficult. If they are at this stage of the Euros, it is because they have a lot of quality. They have shown this already in the group stages, so it will not be easy, but we will be ready.
I always believed I could get here. It was a proud moment for me. To be here and to be a part of this group is a dream for all of us, but as the coach said, the important thing is to win. We are confident.
"
All signs suggest both teams will be coming into this tie with a mentality of not conceding ahead of grabbing goals of their own, considering consistent attacking success has been hard to come by.
Each outfit was forced to play 120 minutes in their most recent outing, and fatigue is sure to be settling in with both outfits at this stage, meaning Thursday's meeting unfortunately isn't likely to be a barn-burner.
Lewandowski's Time to Shine
Despite coming into the 2016 European Championship on the back of a glittering campaign with Bayern Munich, where he netted 42 goals in all competitions, Robert Lewandowski is yet to sparkle in France.
Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was recently quizzed on whether his side are concerned about the target man's recent goal drought but insisted there's no cause for concern, per Goal's Iain Strachan:
"No, we're not worried at all. We're quite happy with where we are at the moment [as a team].
That would complete him, probably. You've got to say that Robert does his job as well. Even though he's not scoring goals he gives a lot to the team. Even in the first minute of the game, we created something from his pressure, that put them under a stressful situation.
That's what he gives us, even though we're not creating as much as we would like to for him. He's still trying to do his best for the team.
"
There's also a philosophical factor to Thursday's quarter-final encounter, as evidenced by Portuguese newspaper A Bola, per Sport Witness:
Portugal showed in the group encounter against Hungary just how lopsided their team can be, with centre-backs Pepe and Fonte far from the most talented duo in attendance.
Despite his recent failings, there would be no better time for Lewandowski to find his feet and perform to specification. However, Poland have conceded just one goal in the tournament thus far and are sure to focus on defence first and foremost.
