England have a fabulous record in European Championship qualifying and have now won 18 of their last 19 matches in this competition. They are also unbeaten in over 30 World Cup qualifying fixtures. England are a machine in qualifying and are usually a cash machine for punters. They beat Ukraine 4-0 in Euro 2021 and should have far too much for their opponents here. The odds are only at 1.22 but this is a nice selection to add to the bet builder.

When Gareth Southgate unleashes this team then it’s full of attacking potential. 6 of the last 7 England competitive games have all ended with over 2.5 goals and it was a surprise how open Thursday’s match vs Italy was. England can cover an over 2.5 goal line all by themselves but a defence containing Harry Maguire, who has lacked starts this year will always raise some question marks. Luke Shaw is suspended so Ukraine will surely fancy their chances of hitting the back of the net and they could contribute as well. Odds of 1.67 for over 2.5 goals make quite an appealing selection.

Harry Kane broke Wayne Rooney’s goalscoring record for England when he converted the penalty vs Italy. The Three Lions’ selection in attack can sometimes chop and change but you know that barring injury Kane will likely last the full 90 mins. His tail will be up after netting vs the Azzurri and must surely feel confident. Odds of 1.44 on the England captain firing 2 or more shots on target looks like a decent price.

Let’s be honest, there’s a very good chance he scores at least one goal here and it’s not asking a lot for England’s main striker to test the goalkeeper on two occasions. He only had one SOT in the Italy game, but England should fire in a lot more attempts here on home soil.

Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk is in charge of this game. He averages 3.76 cards per match this season in all competitions. It was noticeable that in the Nations League last year Ukraine obtained at least 3 cards in 4 of their last 5 games.

This is their first qualifying fixture, so nobody is going to pick up a suspension yet unless there’s a red card. I am sure the visitors are going to get stuck in and give the referee plenty of work. Over 2.5 Ukraine cards can be backed at 2.25 and makes for decent appeal. England might also contribute here though, so over 3.5 overall match cards surely is the better option even if the price is shorter. Some players already on yellow cards would only get suspended for the Malta game next which might be worth considering.