Having kick started their qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win in Naples, England now return to Wembley to face off against a Ukraine side who failed to beat neighbours Scotland in their last trip to the UK, going down 3-0.

Southgate’s England dominated Italy on Thursday, restricting them to just 1 shot on target, a lovely finish from Retegui. England were efficient as they allowed Italy to progress the ball before pouncing, causing Italy to lose the ball in the final third 2x more than England did. Rice, Maguire and Phillips led the side in recoveries, forcing Italy to attack from wide, where sweeper keeper Pickford could pounce on crosses.

Ukraine rank 26th in the FIFA Rankings, and won 5-0 on their latest travels but that was against 95th ranked Armenia. But prior to that, they lost 3-0 as mentioned to Scotland, with just 1 shot and 0.1 xG. They kick start their campaign with the hardest possible fixture at Wembley. Some familiar faces will feature with Zinchenko, Mudryk and Mykolenko all expected to start for Ukraine on Sunday.

Mykolenko should line up against Arsenal starlet Bukayo Saka who had him on skates last time they faced off. Mykolenko committed 3 fouls and bagged himself a card. With Foden or Grealish on the other side, the latter drawing the most fouls in the Premier League this season, there is plenty of opportunity for free kicks around the box. Set pieces have always been profitable for this Southgate side, not least at the 2018 World Cup run but also on Thursday night with both of England’s goals coming from set plays of some sort.

At home in their World Cup qualification campaign, England averaged 3.4 goals per game to 0.4 against. The xG backs it up as England had 2.81 xG for on average. England should be expected to net 2+ goals in this game and with Southgate’s defensive efficiency I struggle to see Ukraine scoring. England to win looks a safe bet @ 1/4 but William Hill have boosted this to 25/1 using the link below.