Ukraine vs England Preview

2020 European Championship finalists England will take their quest to secure qualification for the next edition of the tournament to Wroclaw where they face Ukraine in the fifth qualifying round.

Ukraine have started their Euro qualifiers well, with two wins and one loss from their opening three games. They sit second in UEFA Group C.

However head coach Serhiy Rebrov will know that his men must keep up the positive momentum following victories over North Macedonia and Malta if they are to make the tournament proper for the fourth successive time.

The good news for the Blue and Yellow heading into their clash against the Three Lions in Poland is that they haven’t lost any of their last 13 matches as the designated hosts (W5, D8), a run stretching back to October 2020.

However, their record against England is poor, with just a single head-to-head win in October 2009 (D2, L6). Indeed, the hosts have only scored in three of their nine previous meetings with England, failing to net on each of the last three occasions.

That said, Ukraine have already shown significant steel since Rebrov took over in June, coming from behind against both Germany (3-3) and North Macedonia (W3-2).

Meanwhile, England travel to Wroclaw in good form having taken 12 points from 12 at the halfway stage of their ECQ campaign. They scored 15 goals in those four games, conceding just once.

And despite the withdrawals of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jack Grealish due to injury ahead of this game, Gareth Southgate’s squad still looks extremely strong. They have an exciting mix of youth and experience and are favourites to win this group with oddsmakers.

Despite this, the Three Lions have been accused of lacking a tough mentality as they have failed to win their last six matches when conceding first (D2, L4), including two losses to Hungary and a 2022 FIFA World Cup exit at the hands of France.