Ukraine vs North Macedonia prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-10-13 13:00.
Amidst the ongoing backdrop of war in their country, Ukraine travel to the home of Sparta Prague for their latest home encounter after playing their previous two European Championship Qualifiers (ECQ) in Slovakia and Poland. It is well documented as to why they live as a nomadic nation, but it hasnāt stopped them from putting in some solid performances as theyāre unbeaten in all five āhomeā games since the conflict in their homeland began (W2, D3).
That form has contributed to Ukraineās seven-point haul so far in this ECQ group (W2, D1, L1), a run which sees them locked in a three-way tussle along with Italy and North Macedonia, each vying for the coveted second-placed spot behind runaway leaders England. A victory here will likely only see them keep pace with Italy, who sit level on points but play pointless Malta later in the evening, yet four straight H2H victories should at least inspire hope of such an outcome.
The exact same applies to North Macedonia, who followed up a commendable draw with the Italians with a 2-0 win over Malta ahead of this clash. That win against Malta was the perfect result following their heaviest historical defeat to open the away ECQ campaign (7-0 vs England), and they certainly cannot be counted out of the qualification race after appearing at their first major tournament as an independent nation at EURO 2020.
Thatās not to mention the fact that they famously denied Italy the chance to appear at the latest World Cup, although that is one of few examples of the North Macedonians stepping up against the big boys on their ECQ travels. The visitors have failed to win 13 of their last 16 ECQ trips (D3, L10), but the fact they managed to get on the scoresheet in half of those defeats shows they usually carry an attacking threat.
Players to watch: Ukrainian full-back Yukhym Konoplya has had a hand in two of his nationās ECQ goals (G1, A1), and he will be one for the referee to keep an eye on as heās picked up a yellow in four of his last six appearances for club & country. As for North Macedonia, Enis Bardhi has contributed to five of their seven ECQ goals so far (G2, A3), including scoring the opening goal in their 3-2 defeat against Ukraine in the reverse.
Hot stat: Ukraine have scored more than once in just one of their last five ECQ outings.