Football Sep 8, 2023
We look ahead to this UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier in Wroclaw, Poland with our Ukraine vs England prediction and preview. Can England make it five wins from five in Group C?
**Ukraine vs England: The Quick Hits**
- The Opta supercomputer predicts that England are the most likely winners of this Euro 2024 qualifier, with a 67.6% chance of victory.
- A win would bring up a 600th victory for England in men’s internationals. They’d become the first European nation to reach that landmark.
- Ukraine have won just won of their previous nine meetings with England – a 1-0 victory in a 2009 World Cup qualifier.
**Match Preview**
England will be looking for their 600th win in men’s international football on Saturday as they face Ukraine. Should they do so, they’d be the first European nation to reach that landmark.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainians are having to play their ‘home’ matches outside of their nation, so this match will take place at the Tarczyński Arena, Wroclaw in Poland.
England captain Harry Kane will be looking to score in a seventh successive international appearance for his nation. His current run is his third different sequence of scoring in six consecutive England games, but he’s never hit seven in a row before – should he do so, he’d become the first England international to achieve that first since George Camsell between 1929 and 1936 (nine in a row).
This will be Kane’s first England appearance since moving from Premier League side Tottenham to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. Kane has taken five penalties in his last five England appearances, scoring four and failing with one against France at the World Cup. He could become the first England player since Geoff Hurst in May 1969 to score a penalty in three consecutive England appearances.
Bukayo Saka is another player in fine form for England. The Arsenal forward has been involved in nine goals in his last nine games for England (seven goals, two assists), including a hat-trick in his last appearance versus North Macedonia. He also scored in the reverse fixture against Ukraine at Wembley.
Viktor Tsyhankov has scored four goals across Ukraine’s last three internationals, netting the winning goal in their last two qualifying wins over Malta and North Macedonia.
Head Coach Serhiy Rebrov also has experienced captain Andriy Yarmolenko in his squad to provide a goal threat from midfield, while Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk, Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Everton defender Vitalii Mykolenko will all be familiar with the bulk of the England squad as Premier League players.
**Ukraine vs England Head-to-Head**
This will be the 10th international meeting between Ukraine and England in men’s football, with Ukraine having won just one of the previous nine.
That solitary win came in a 2009 World Cup qualifier for the 2010 tournament, with Ukraine winning 1-0 in Dnipro (then Dnipropetrovsk) thanks to a goal from Sergiy Nazarenko. Before the goal, England goalkeeper Rob Green was sent off after giving away a penalty, which striker Andriy Shevchenko crashed against the post.
England have won six of the previous nine meetings, including the last two in a row. Gareth Southgate’s side beat Ukraine 4-0 in the 2020 UEFA European Championship quarter-finals in Rome on 3 July 2021, before winning 2-0 at Wembley in a Euro 2024 qualifier back in March thanks to first-half goals from Saka and Kane.
Ukraine have only ever scored three goals against England and never more than once in a single match.
**Recent Form**
England have won all four of their UEFA European Championship qualifiers in this campaign, beating Italy (2-1) and Malta (4-0) away and Ukraine (2-0) and North Macedonia (7-0). Heading into this round of qualifiers, England are the top scorers with 15 goals – one more than Portugal (14) and three more than Switzerland (12).
The English have conceded just three goals in their last eight international matches, keeping a clean sheet in six of those games – this follows a four-game run where they conceded 10 goals.
Since losing to England at Wembley in March, Ukraine have sealed back-to-back qualifying wins over North Macedonia – a 3-2 win after being 2-0 down – and Malta (1-0). They last won three games in a row in October and November 2019. They also drew 3-3 in a friendly with Germany prior to these two qualifiers, in June. They led the Germans 3-1 until two goals in the final seven minutes saw the game end level.
**Ukraine vs England Prediction**
Before kick-off on Saturday, the Opta Supercomputer gives England a 67.6% chance of making it five wins from five in Group C with a win over Ukraine in this match.
The Three Lions have won all four of their qualifiers for Euro 2024 so far and would take a big step towards sealing a place in the finals in Germany next summer with another victory here.
Ukraine have a 10.5% chance of picking up a much needed victory. They’re currently in second place in Group C, three points ahead of Italy but have played a game more than the Italians. They face one another on 12 September.
**Ukraine vs England Squads**
Ukraine: Heorhiy Bushchan, Andriy Lunin, Anatoliy Trubin, Mykola Matviyenko, Oleksandr Karavayev, Vitalii Mykolenko, Serhiy Kryvtsov, Illya Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Bohdan Mykhaylichenko, Yukhym Konoplia, Denys Popov, Andriy Yarmolenko, Taras Stepanenko, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Viktor Tsyhankov, Oleksandr Zubkov, Vitaliy Buyalskyi, Mykhailo Mudryk, Heorhiy Sudakov, Oleksandr Pikhalyonok, Yehor Nazaryna, Roman Yaremchuk, Artem Dovbyk, Vladyslav Vanat .
England: Jordan Pickford, Sam Johnstone, Aaron Ramsdale, Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire, Kieran Trippier, Ben Chilwell, Marc Guéhi, Fikayo Tomori, Lewis Dunk, Levi Colwill, Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips, Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Callum Wilson, James Maddison, Eberechi Eze, Eddie Nketiah.
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