England will take on Ukraine in the Euro 2024 qualifiers on Sunday evening and the Three Lions will be looking to build on their win over Italy.
Gareth Southgate’s men picked up a 2-1 win over Italy in the last match and they will be full of confidence heading into this contest. They are undoubtedly the favourites to pick up all three points and it remains to be seen whether the players can step up and get the job done.
Meanwhile, Ukraine will be playing the first match of the Group C Euro 2024 qualifiers and they will be hoping to pull off an upset in front of a packed Wembley crowd.
Ukraine have a talented squad at their disposal and the home side cannot afford to underestimate them.
Another big #EURO2024 qualifier tomorrow. 👊#ThreeLions | @NuffieldHealth pic.twitter.com/sZPxPntWAs
— England (@England) March 25, 2023
Team News and Tactics
England
Gareth Southgate will be without the services of Luke Shaw and Reece James. The Chelsea defender has withdrawn from the squad with an ongoing injury problem and Shaw is suspended after his red card against Italy. Midfielder Jude Bellingham is expected to be sidelined as well after picking up a knock.
Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount and Nick Pope have pulled out from the England squad due to injuries as well.
Defender @ReeceJames has withdrawn from the #ThreeLions squad and will not feature against Ukraine on Sunday.
22 players will be out to train shortly, with @JPickford1 joining Gareth Southgate for our pre-match media conference at 3pm.
— England (@England) March 25, 2023
Gareth Southgate is likely to employ a 4-3-3 formation tomorrow with Jordan Pickford in goal.
Kyle Walker and Ben Chilwell are likely to be deployed as the full-backs here and the two players will look to provide width and attacking quality apart from their defensive duties.
John Stones is likely to partner with Harry Maguire at the heart of the defence. In the midfield three, Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice are likely to start alongside Kalvin Phillips.
Phillips is likely to sit deep and break up the opposition’s play and protect the central defenders. Meanwhile, the likes of Henderson and Rice will look to keep the midfield compact with their defensive contributions.
Bukayo Saka will start on the right wing with Phil Foden on the left. England’s record goal scorer Harry Kane is set to lead the line.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Chilwell; Henderson, Phillips, Rice; Saka, Kane, Foden
Ukraine
The visitors will be without the services of Illia Zabarnyi because of an injury. Andriy Yarmolenko is a doubt after picking up a knock.
The visitors are likely to shape up in a 4-3-3 formation with Andriy Lunin in goal.
Oleksandr Karavaev and Vitaliy Myloneko will start as the full-backs here and they will look to protect the central defenders and provide some width during counterattacks. Mykola Matviyenko and Denys Popov will start at the heart of the defence.
Taras Stepanenko will be the defensive midfielder here and he will look to anchor the midfield. Ruslan Malinovskyi and Oleksandr Zinchenko are expected to start in the midfield three and they will look to add creativity and drive to the side.
Roman Yaremchuk is set to lead the line for Ukraine with Chelsea winger Mykhaylo Mudryk and Victor Tsygankov on either side of him.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Lunin; Karavaev, Matvienko, Popov, Mykolenko; Malinovskyi, Stepanenko, Zinchenko; Tsygankov, Yaremchuk, Mudryk
Key Stats
- England are undefeated in their last 5 home matches against Ukraine in all competitions.
- England have only lost one of their 27 major tournament qualifiers under Gareth Southgate.
- Ukraine’s only win over England came in Dnipro during qualification for the 2010 World Cup.
- England have kept a clean sheet in 3 of their last 4 matches against Ukraine.
Player to watch out for
Harry Kane
ENGLAND'S ALL-TIME RECORD GOALSCORER!
Congratulations, @HKane! 👏 pic.twitter.com/vXoeRcQrRC
— England (@England) March 23, 2023
The 29-year-old has been in splendid form this season and he is coming into this game on the back of four goals in his last three matches.
Kane became England’s record goal scorer with his penalty against Italy and he will be looking to add to that tally here.
Harry Kane has the quality to punish a mediocre Ukraine defence here and he is our man to watch out for.
Prediction
England 3-0 Ukraine
Ukraine are a decent team with quality players like Mudryk and Zinchenko at their disposal. However, the gulf in class between the two teams is enormous and England should be able to pick up a comfortable victory at home.
The likes of Saka and Kane have been in exceptional form this season and they have the quality to tear the opposition defence apart. The Hard Tackle predicts a comfortable 3-0 win for the Three Lions at home.
