Ukraine vs England prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-09-08 16:00.
Ukraine may be sitting second in UEFA European Championship qualifying (ECQ) Group C (W2, L1), but head coach Serhiy Rebrov will know that his men must keep up the positive momentum following victories over North Macedonia and Malta if they are to make the tournament proper for the fourth successive time. The good news for the Blue and Yellow heading into their clash against England in the Polish city of Wrocław is that they haven’t lost any of their last 13 matches as the designated hosts (W5, D8), a run stretching back to October 2020.
However, their record against the Three Lions is poor, with just a single H2H win back in October 2009 (D2, L6). Indeed, Ukraine have only scored in three of their nine previous meetings with the Euro 2020 runners-up, failing to net on each of the last three occasions. That said, the Eastern Europeans have already shown significant steel since Rebrov took over in June, coming from behind against both Germany (3-3) and North Macedonia (W3-2).
England, meanwhile, have 12 points from 12 at the halfway stage of their ECQ campaign, and despite the withdrawals of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jack Grealish due to injury, Gareth Southgate’s squad still looks extremely strong, with an exciting mix of youth and experience. There have been more than 300 minutes of football played since the team last conceded a goal, scoring 13 times without reply in three subsequent qualifiers.
It will be interesting though to see what England are like if they fall behind, given that they have failed to win their last six matches when this has happened (D2, L4), including two losses to Hungary and a 2022 FIFA World Cup exit at the hands of France. If it’s goals you’re after, England are definitely worth tuning in for, with their 27 ECQs since a goalless draw against Montenegro in October 2010 featuring a mammoth 107 of them – 3.96 per game!
Players to watch: Victor Tsyhankov has scored four and assisted once in Ukraine’s last three games, as well as kicking off the La Liga campaign with an assist for Girona. It’s hard to look past Harry Kane in an England shirt, given that he has netted in each of his last six internationals, as well as scoring three times and assisting once in his opening three starts for Bayern Munich.
Hot stat: Just two of the nine previous meetings between Ukraine and England have seen both teams score.