ENGLAND got their Euro 2024 qualifying bid off to a flying start in Italy on Thursday night but will Ukraine pose them many problems at Wembley on Sunday?
England vs Ukraine odds
Here are the latest match odds for England vs Ukraine.
England vs Ukraine betting preview
England’s Euro 2024 qualifying campaign couldn’t have got off to a much better start on Thursday – well, at least in the first half.
It turned out that effort in the opening 45 minutes proved enough to earn victory in Italy, albeit a shaky second-half display saw the Three Lions hanging on at the end for their 2-1 victory.
Still, in terms of a result, it is hard to think of many more impressive during Gareth Southgate’s reign and with the hardest game of the five-team group negotiated with flying colours, England look well on the way to Germany next summer.
They’ll now look to build on their strong start with a home win against the team looking to take advantage of Italy’s early slip, Ukraine.
Perhaps understandably given what’s occurring in their homeland, Ukraine failed to reach the World Cup, losing to Wales in a play-off last summer, but they have plenty of talent in their squad, including Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko and Chelsea new boy Mykhailo Mudryk.
They were quarter-finalists at the last European Championships less than two years ago, although it’s worth remembering what happened in that game – they were trounced 4-0 by a rampant England.
Having opted only to play a Brentford ‘B’ team last week, this will be Ukraine’s first proper game since finishing second to Scotland in their Nations League group last September and that could count against them given they come up against an England side who have just hit the ground running.
They are also in something of a state of limbo right now. Ruslan Rotan will mange the side at Wembley but he’s just a temporary appointment while the Ukrainian FA wait for ex-Spurs man Sergey Rebrov to finish his club contract in the UAE.
That’s far from ideal and neither is Ukraine’s recent away record against the leading nations.
On top of that Euro 2020 hammering (in Rome), they also shipped three goals against the Netherlands during that tournament.
In the Nations League earlier this season, Ukraine suffered a 3-0 defeat in Scotland, while going back to the previous NL campaign you find they lost 4-0 in Spain and 3-1 in Germany. The same period also brought a 7-1 friendly hammering in France.
In short, they’ve long struggled away to the elite so another handsome England win looks far from out of the question.
Best betting offers for England vs Ukraine
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England vs Ukraine key stats
- England will definitely be without the suspended Luke Shaw for this game, while Jude Bellingham is a major doubt after limping off towards the end of Thursday’s match in Naples.
- Bournemouth defender Illia Zabarnyi has withdrawn from the Ukraine squad but their star names all look set to be available at Wembley.
- England have now won 18 of their last 19 European Championship qualifiers and have not lost such a game since the famous 3-2 defeat to Croatia in 2007 when boss Steve McClaren was famously dubbed ‘the Wally with the Brolly’.
- Record-breaker Harry Kane has scored in five of his last seven England starts at Wembley. He also netted twice in the 4-0 win over Ukraine at Euro 2020.
- Both teams have scored in just one of Ukraine’s last seven games.
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England vs Ukraine best bets
Vitalii Mykolenko to be carded
This could be a tough game for the Everton left-back, who looks set to go up against the in-form Bukayo Saka, who caused Italy problems on Thursday evening.
Mykolenko’s record for Ukraine shows he’s been carded in six of his last 20 competitive internationals, including three of the last eight.
The referee is always important to a card bet but the appointment of Dutch official Serdar Gozubuyuk isn’t off-putting – he’s shown at least four cards in five of his last seven internationals and has also had good numbers in UEFA’s club competitions over the past couple of years.
Throw in the fact that Mykolenko hasn’t started a game in almost a month and 15/4 about him being carded here looks a good shout.
England to win both halves
England dominated Ukraine when they last met in July 2021, easily landing this bet.
Gareth Southgate would have been delighted with how his side flew out of the traps against Italy and will certainly be encouraging a repeat but he’ll also have been concerned by what happened after the interval and doubtless will have been seeking solutions since.
Expect greater game management if England, as the bookies expect, do get ahead before the break.
Ukraine’s poor record away to Europe’s elite suggests they will struggle – they’ve lost to Germany, France and Spain via this method in the past three years.
With England just 1/4 for victory in this game, backing them to win both halves looks the potential value option.
How to watch England vs Ukraine
- Location: Wembley Stadium, London, England.
- Date and time: Sunday 26 March 2023, 5pm.
- How to watch: Channel 4.
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