On Sunday, 3 August, our team will fight for the first league points in season 2025/26. We will face the local Cracovia at the stadium at Józefa Kałuza 1 Street in Kraków. The start of the meeting is scheduled for 14:45.
We are approaching the match against Cracovia after an extremely exciting, although defeated, clash against Lech Poznań. We were leading by 2:0 until the break, but in the end we succumbed to the rival 3:4. Although the result was disappointing, the meeting gave reasons for optimism before the next challenge.
First of all, we need to be careful and consistent in what we do. It’s an issue that we’ve conceded six goals in two games. However, I can assure you that we are working hard on this aspect. We know exactly what our problem is. The players’ attitude is excellent, and we’ve done a lot of video analysis showing them how to defend. We try to solve every problem, and that’s my job. Everyone is working very hard, and the people at the top are also working on bringing new reinforcements to the team – said coach John Carver at his pre-match press conference.
We know we have a tough start to the season. I remember when we went to Kraków in May, we played, in my opinion, our best away game since I’ve been here. Cracovia’s squad hasn’t changed that much—they have a new striker, Dominik Piła, and a new coach. They’ve won two matches, so of course, it will be a challenge. They’ve only conceded one goal so far and are very well organized. It will be hard to break them down. But we have our plan, and everything depends on how we execute it. It definitely won’t be easy to create chances against Cracovia, so when we get opportunities, we need to take them. I expect good organization in defense. – added the coach of the White-Greens.
The previous matches were not easy either. It’s the way it is in the Ekstraklasa that every match is tough and you have to be in the right frame of mind for every game – no matter who you’re playing against. We are going with a good attitude and for the three points – Dawid Kurminowski said at the press briefing.
RIVAL PROFILE: CRACOVIA
Krakow’s “Pasy” have started the current campaign with a bang, as their position at the top of the league table perfectly attests. The current leaders of the PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa stakes defeated Lech Poznań 4:1 in their first game away in spectacular style, only to win 2:0 at home against the Nieciecza debutant a week later.
Cracovia made several transfers before the start of the league competition. The team from Kraków was joined by, among others, Swiss striker Filip Stojilković, who stood out in the first two rounds, winger Mateusz Praszelik, bought from the Italian Serie B, or side defender Dominik Saw, who is well known to Gdansk fans and who was voted the best player of the team by Lechia fans in the 2024/25 season. Before the start of the current season, Slovan Luka Elsner became the coach of the “Pasy”, and his philosophy clearly has a positive impact on Cracovia’s players. Special attention should be paid to Bosnian Ajdin Hasic, who is in phenomenal form. In the first two games of the season, the Pasas striker scored as many as 3 goals and added 1 assist.
LAST MATCHES AGAINST CRACOVIA
The last time we faced Cracovia was on 4 May 2025 during an away game, as part of the 31st round of the PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa. The match ended with a 2:0 victory for our team, with goals scored by Maksym Khlan and Ivan Zhelizko. In turn, our last home clash with Cracovia took place on 3 November 2024, as part of the 14th round of the league competition. This match ended with our team losing 1:2, and the only goal for the White-Greens was scored by Bujar Pllana.
We also won against Cracovia away on a visit to the “Pasy” Stadium in October 2022. The white-greens defeated the team from Kraków 1:0 after Flavio Paixao’s goal from a penalty kick. The last two trips to the stadium on ul Kałuza have therefore ended favourably for us. We believe that the White-Greens will maintain their good run at Cracovia’s stadium this Sunday.
THE OVERALL BALANCE OF MATCHES WITH CRACOVIA
So far we have played 53 matches against Cracovia. We have won in 18 matches. There was a draw in 10 matches. In contrast, we suffered defeat 25 times. The goal balance is 69-77.
Taking into account the last six direct duels we have a draw – Lechia won 3 times and Cracovia 3 times. One thing, however, we can be practically sure of – there should be no shortage of goals on Sunday afternoon. The last meeting between Lechia and Cracovia that ended in a goalless draw took place in the 2017/18 season at the Polsat Plus Arena in Gdańsk.
REFEREES PANEL
The meeting between Lechia Gdańsk and Cracovia will be refereed by Mateusz Piszczelok from Katowice. Michał Obukowicz and Damian Rokosz will assist the main referee on the lines. Maciej Kuropatwa will act as technical referee, while Paweł Malec and Krzysztof Myrmus will be responsible for the VAR system.
WHERE TO WATCH THE MATCH?
Saturday’s match against Cracovia will kick off at 14:45, with coverage available on TV on Canal+Sport 3, Canal+ 360, in the app and on Canal+ online. The pre-match studio will begin at 14:10, with Michal Mitrut and Michal Trela commentating on the match.
