Ukraine v England – Match Preview and Betting Tip
The painful experience which is watching the England football team awakens from its summer slumber when the often hapless national team travels to Eastern Europe for this rather tricky looking fixture. All is still to play for in England’s qualifying group, and the loser here is by no means certain of qualifying for the world’s biggest football tournament in Brazil.
Roy Hodgson’s team has been damaged by a great deal of injury difficulties going into this game, and it is quite possible that he would settle for a draw in this match. On the other hand, a win would put England in a very strong position in the qualifying group and would leave the Ukraine in a very difficult position. There really is all to play for in this one, and one shouldn’t expect a particularly attractive affair.
Winner
England, as is often the case, look to have the better players on paper here. However, that has not always counted for a great deal in the qualifying group thus far, with England still in a strong position to qualify should they manage to pick up some decent results in their remaining fixtures, but they are not as well placed as one might hope given the fact that this looked like a rather easy group to progress from.
The Ukraine were so reliant on Andrei Shevchenko for so long that they almost seem like half a team without the former AC Milan and Chelsea striker, and without what was once the world’s best striker, their team certainly looks a mediocre one by international standards. Having said that, this didn’t prevent them from picking up a draw at Wembley earlier in the Group H campaign, and I have a feeling that they will deny England again here.
Thus, I’m tipping this game to end in a draw, which will leave both teams in with a chance of progressing.
Correct Score
It is quite easy to see this match as being similar in pattern and approach to the game at Wembley, and with neither side having played outstanding football of late, one can easily see this being a low-scoring, nervy draw. So I’m actually going for a goalless draw for this one, which seems logical given the very cautious approach that Hodgson has often taken.
Under / Over 2.5 Goals
In accordance with the previous market, I’m tipping the under 2.5 goals bet for this market.
Winning Margin
My tip for this market is that there will be no winning margin, and indeed no goals either.
First Goalscorer
I do not think that there will be any goals in this fixture, thus the first goalscorer market is somewhat obsolete. You can usually back the no goalscorer option at around 8/1.
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