Lech Poznan vs Sunderland prediction 22.10.2026 | Europa League

Lech Poznan are the reigning champions in the Polish Ekstraklasa, but after an unsuccessful Champions League qualification campaign, Niels Frederiksen's team has a good opportunity in the Europa League. They had high expectations for the second-most important continental competition, but in the first two rounds, Lech lost 4-0 to Crystal Palace and Bayer Leverkusen. In the domestic league, Frederiksen's team is playing much better, and after 10 rounds, they trail the league leader, Gornik Zabrze, by one point. In the most recent outing, Lech Poznan won 6-1 at home against Korona Kielce.

Lech beat Korona Kielce convincingly only a few days after another Europa League defeat. The head coach, Niels Frederiksen, commented, "I'd like to say I'm proud of my team's performance. They played a really good match. Considering the whole situation, we had a tough match on Thursday, both physically and mentally, but today's start to the match was impressive. Especially considering the strength and mental fortitude my players showed. I'm happy with this performance; we played to a really high standard."

Lech Poznan have big problems with injuries. Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Ali Gholizadeh, Alex Douglas, Wojciech Monka, Robert Gumny, and Joao Moutinho are injured and will not play on Thursday against Sunderland.

Last season was much better for Sunderland than they expected. Regis Le Bris' team finished seventh and returned to the continental competitions after more than 50 years. Sunderland opened the Europa League with six points from the first two rounds (1-0 vs AZ Alkmaar and 2-1 vs Torreense). In the Premier League, the Black Cats are much worse, with only four points after seven matches. Sunderland lost three of the last four games. In the previous match, Le Bris' team lost 2-0 on the road against Bournemouth.

Sunderland is playing badly in the Premier League, and the head coach is understandably worried. After the most recent defeat, Regis Le Bris commented, "If you lose games, then it is clear what is going to happen. We cannot ignore that. We have to win points, and we have to do that in different conditions and different scenarios. We know that. At the moment, it is not the case. It is not happening, and so the reality of the situation is really clear."

Dan Ballard, Thomas Meunier, and Romaine Mundle are out for the trip to Poznan, while Brian Brobbey and Wilson Isidor are questionable.