Ukraine v England Quarter Final Preview

England will leave behind the comforts of home for the first time this tournament as they travel to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to face Ukraine in the final quarter-final on Saturday evening. The Three Lions finally broke their Germany hoodoo and beat Die Mannschaft in a major tournament for the first time since they won the World Cup back in 1966. Ukraine meanwhile reached their first quarter-final of a major tournament since 2006 – and their first ever at a Euros – thanks to a last-gasp extra-time winner against Sweden. They have surprised many by making it to the quarters and credit has to go to the team and manager Andriy Shevchenko for the outstanding achievement of making it this far. With a semi-final against either Demark or the Czech Republic at Wembley awaiting them should they win here, England know they will rarely get a better chance of reaching the final of a major tournament.

Ukraine at Euro 2020

Not even the most optimistic Ukrainian fan would of believed that their side could of reached this stage of the tournament, especially after finishing only 3rd in Group C and qualifying to the knockout stages by the skins of their teeth. Having tuned in to the their last 16 game against Sweden, they were lucky to qualify and were massively helped by a very harsh red card given to Swedish defender Marcus Danielsson in the first period of extra-time.

Ranked 24th in the world, Ukraine have beaten England just once in seven attempts, a 1-0 World Cup qualifying success in 2009.Of the other six games, England have won four, including a 1-0 victory in the group stage of Euro 2012, Wayne Rooney scoring the decisive goal. They have some players in their squad with undoubted quality; both Yarmolenko and Zinchenko play in England and are very capable footballers. There are question marks over the fitness of Yarmolenko however who was forced to come off in the first half of extra-time in the last-16 win in Glasgow. It would be a major boost for England should the West Ham man miss out; he has been the stand out player for the Ukrainians with 3 goal involvements to his name already. This will be seen as a free-hit for Ukraine with nobody in the footballing world believing they can get past England in this one. A dangerous opponent no doubt but in reality England should have far too much for them.

Ukraine Predicted Line-up vs. England: Buschan; Zabarnyi, Kryvstov, Matvienko; Karavaev, Sydorchuk, Stepanenko, Shaparenko, Zinchenko; Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk (3-5-2)

England at Euro 2020

Can’t help but agree with the bookies and see England as favourites for the tournament going forwards especially given their potential opponents between now and the final. I always fancied them to do well and with France, Netherlands and Germany now gone there is no doubt they have a real shot. After a dodgy opening 10 minutes against Germany on Tuesday night, England settled and played undoubtedly their best game of the Euros so far running out deserved 2-0 winners. It feels like a real turning point both for the team and Gareth Southgate who stuck with his guns and decided to play 5 at the back despite plenty of criticism from the national media. It turned out to be a master stroke as England cancelled Germany out and were comfortably the better team on the day.

Ukraine and then most likely Denmark await in their route to the final. England will have to play without the home comforts of Wembley for the first-time this summer, something Southgate has touched upon and said his players must learn to ‘cope’ without the energy of the home crowd. They couldn’t really of asked for an ‘easier’ draw in theory and although Ukraine will make it difficult, I predict a confident England to get the job done. Southgate reportedly has a fully available squad from which to select from and now has the difficult task of picking his starting 11. Sterling is a certain starter and has been comfortably Englands best player this summer with 3 goals scored in the 4 games played so far. He is 2.7 to score anytime on Saturday night which given his form and confidence at the moment seems a very reasonable price.

England Predicted Line-up vs. Ukraine: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Phillips, Rice, Mount; Sancho, Sterling, Kane (4-3-3)

Ukraine v England Betting Tips & Predictions

England are yet to concede this tournament and despite maybe not being the most enjoyable to watch are unquestionably a very impressive defensive unit. Ukraine are unlikely to threaten too much, especially if Yarmolenko misses out and a win to nil for England seems highly likely. England to win to nil is currently priced 1.91 which given how well they are defending currently seems a very fair price. I fancy a straightforward England win here, 2-0.

Ukraine v England Euro 2020 Bet Builder

Follow me on social media through the links below to see my bet builder for Ukraine v England. As always I’ll share my free, researched betting tips for Euro 2020 on all three social media channels once we have confirmed team lineups. My bet builder for Ukraine v England is likely to include shots, shots on target, corners and player bookings.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *

How to watch Ukraine v England in Euro 2020

📅   When is Ukraine v England? / Saturday, 3 July 2021, 20:00 BST
🏟   Where is Ukraine v England taking place? / Stadio Olimpico (Rome)
📺   What TV Channel is Ukraine v England on? / BBC One, ZDF
📱   Online Live Streaming for Ukraine v England / bet365