POL vs UZB Dream11 Prediction Team: Pool A opens its sojourn with Poland and Uzbekistan looking to fight it out for second position in the pool
Having won the FIH Series Open in Poland, the Poland side head into the FIH Series Final with their first match against the lowest ranked side in the marquee tournament. Coming in a ranking berth of 43, the expectations for Uzbekistan are way low and thin this year. They managed to win the FIH Series Open held in Pakistan but it came amongst a group of countries whose calibre was way less than the opposition at hand for them starting today.
For Poland who are placed in Pool A alongside Russia and India, the emphasises of coming out of this encounter with a colossal win couldn’t be any more emphatic. With India highly being billed as the pool leaders at the culmination of their matches, Russia and Uzbekistan will be left fighting it out amongst themselves for second place for a spot in the semi-finals.
Elsewhere, although their chances of progressing through what is a highly competitive pool are less, Uzbekistan would be looking to spring up their own surprises. They can play a competitive brand of hockey if they get down to it and if they use all their acumen and throw the kitchen sink and more, they can work Poland up.
Probable Winner
Given their recent spree of matches and the form they are coming off into the tournament, picking a winner is not the easiest of tasks. Both are FIH Series Open winners, something which elevates their credentials massively and would be looking to show why they should be considered seriously at the tournament.
What should edge this match Poland’s way s not only their superior skill set but also the fact that they blend in better as a team. Their consummate success has been guided by the defensive and attacking side working well in tandem and Uzbekistan might just find it too big a task to navigate them. We see the script being written in Poland’s favour who should register a win here.
Goal-Keeper for POL vs UZB Dream11
We are going to stick with Poland’s Macie in between the sticks for today, given how their success has been built of the back. They are articulate when it comes to the defensive side with Macie stepping up with several important saves to help enforce a cleansheet.
Defenders for POL vs UZB Dream11
We’ll continue on the same note with our defensive picks with Poland’s defenders forming the bulk of this department. Uzbekistan will find it tough to traverse past them given the resolute nature of Poland’s defenders to show resilience. The two Michals will come into our Dream 11 side given their well ironed ability to put in the tackles and curtail the diagonal balls and attempted passes in between them.
We are going to have a pick from Uzbekistan as well representing us for the first time in the form of Golib Kalandarov. He has shown perseverance and gustiness at the back line in Uzbekistan’s recent FIH Series Open triumph and we expect him to be for the challenge come Poland.
Midfielders for POL vs UZB Dream11
Given this is the first match of the tournament and the nature of each side still an unknown entity, we are going to be packing our side with the midfielders. They offer the unique opportunity of contributing points both at the back and front and their ability to come in with a bagful of points makes them too hard to ignore.
Uzbekistan will see in Okhunjoh and Gaybullo make a venture into our side. Its fool hearty not to give Uzbekistan a chance and if they are going to make a meal of this match their defensive and attacking minded midfielders need to be at the pinnacle of their game.
The two picks from Poland are going to consist our side as well. Mateusz and Adrian are our selections here given Poland’s identity as the favourites. Everything going forward will stem from this duo and against an Uzbekistan defence which is brittle at best, they can get a slew of assists.
Forwards for POL vs UZB Dream11
Poland see another double representation here in the form of Hulboj and Gummy. It’s a partnership which has served them fortuitously in their previous couple of encounters and with Uzbekistan’s defence known to crumble, they could find themselves score a good amount of goals between them.
Given it’s the first match of the tournament, Uzbekistan will be fancying their chances of showing to the world how much they’ve progressed as a hockey country off late. Their probability of scoring has its glimmer and Karimov Ruslan leading the line could turn out to be an exquisite pick.
Captain And Vice-Captain
The disparity in the worldclass skill set of both these countries is something we just couldn’t put past when deciding on the two players here. Hulboj is going to captain our side while Mateusz will be the vice-captain for us.
Match Details
FIH Series Final
Match: Poland Vs Uzbekistan
Date And Time: 6th June, Thursday- 5:00pm IST
Venue: Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar
