There’s a wealth of football to be played over the Christmas period but with the Europa League group stages already finished, there is no European football on Thursday. Pogon Szczecin and Slask Wroclaw meet in the Ekstraklasa.

STATS

• Pogon Szczecin have had a decent season so far in the Polish top-flight and sit 8^th in the table which is just inside the top half. They’ve won five of their last seven games, a run of form which has seen them rise out of the bottom half of the table. However, they were beaten last time out against Cracovia where they lost 2-1 after being reduced to 10 men.
• Slask Wroclaw haven’t had the benefit of such a good first half of the season and are only 14^th out of 16 teams which means they are in danger of being relegated. They haven’t won in their last seven games in all competitions with their last victory coming in the Polish Cup at the end of October. They managed to secure a point in their last game despite having a man sent off.
• The main problem holding Pogon back from pushing into the top five is their lack of a prolific striker. Both Adam Buksa and Kamil Drygas have six goals for them.
• Meanwhile, Marcin Robak has been Slask’s only shining light this term. With 10 goals, only three players in the league have managed more.

HEAD TO HEAD

Meetings between the two sides have made them very hard to separate as they have both managed a win in the last four times they have come together. The most recent one was rather disappointing as it finished goalless when they met back in August after two games that contained over 2.5 goals. They are the only two of the last eight meetings that have seen three or more goals.

POGON SZCZECIN NEWS

With just two points separating the hosts from 4^th place, they can push into the top four with three points on Thursday afternoon. With Sebastian Rudol’s red card last time out, he is unavailable for selection.

Latest matches: MKS Pogon Szczecin

15.12.2018	Ekst	KS Cracovia	MKS Pogon Szczecin	2:1	L
08.12.2018	Ekst	MKS Pogon Szczecin	Zaglebie Sosnowiec SA	1:0	W
03.12.2018	Ekst	GKS Piast Gliwice	MKS Pogon Szczecin	3:0	L
25.11.2018	Ekst	MKS Pogon Szczecin	ASPN Miedz Legnica	2:0	W
09.11.2018	Ekst	MKS Pogon Szczecin	Legia Warsaw	2:1	W

SLASK WROCLAW NEWS

An unlikely victory for the away side can take them two places higher in the table into 14^th. Djordje Cotra was also given his marching order in the last game so he won’t feature.

Latest matches: WKS Slask Wroclaw

16.12.2018	Ekst	WKS Slask Wroclaw	Korona Kielce SA	1:1	D
07.12.2018	Ekst	KKS Lech Poznan	WKS Slask Wroclaw	2:0	L
04.12.2018	Puch	WKS Slask Wroclaw	ASPN Miedz Legnica	0:1	L
30.11.2018	Ekst	WKS Slask Wroclaw	KS Lechia Gdansk	0:2	L
24.11.2018	Ekst	KS Cracovia	WKS Slask Wroclaw	1:1	D

SUMMARY

It’s harder to pick a winner in this clash than the table suggests but Pogon are still favourites for the win with home advantage. Neither side have seen many goals in recent weeks so backing under 2.5 goals might be wise.