Slovakia vs Ukraine Preview & Prediction | UEFA EURO 2024 | Group Stage
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Slovakia pulled off a major upset, arguably the biggest of the tournament, when they defeated Belgium the other day, and they now have a brilliant opportunity to take control of Group E against a disjointed Ukrainian side.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Friday 21st June, 2024 - UK – 2:00pm / US EST – 9:00am / US PST – 7:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – BBC / US – FOX
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer / US – VIX
SLOVAKIA PREVIEW: THE SURPRISE PACKAGE
Slovakia perhaps rode their luck in their opening game but the fact of the matter is that they produced the biggest upset of the tournament so far. Ivan Schranz’ early strike from a Belgian defensive error allowed them to sit tight and hopefully hit on the counter, soaking up pressure and getting themselves over the line.
Romelu Lukaku had two goals disallowed for Domenico Tedesco’s side but the Slovakians, under the management of Francesco Calzona, showed some enterprise themselves. A few swift counter attacks in the first-half will give them hope they can hurt a Ukrainian side that are lacking a bit of incision and cohesion in their overall build-up play.
UKRAINE PREVIEW: FINDING THE FORMULA
Serhiy Rebrov produced some excellent performances with his Ukraine side against England and Italy in qualifying but warning signs of struggling against weaker opponents were there in March when they needed to come from behind in both their playoff semi-final and playoff final against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland respectively.
The Ukrainians dominated the ball and much of the territory in the opening exchanges against Romania but playing out from the back cost them an early deficit when Nicolae Stanciu bent into the top corner and then another loose ball saw another long-range strike hit the net in the second-half before a well worked move allowed Denis Dragus to finish them off in Munich.
SLOVAKIA TEAM NEWS: VAVRO A DOUBT
Slovakia will likely want to play the exact same eleven that defeated the Belgians in their opening match but there is talk that match winner Ivan Schranz could be replaced by Hellas Verona attacker Tomas Suslov in a fluid attacking three behind striker Robert Bozenik. Centre-back Denis Vavro is expected to be fit despite picking up a knock.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Dubravka; Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko; Lobotka, Kucka; Schranz, Duda, Haraslin; Bozenik
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE: Vavro (Injured)
UKRAINE TEAM NEWS: A POSSIBLE ‘KEEPER CHANGE
Vitaly Mykolenko’s injury issues mean that captain Oleksandr Zinchenko has slotted in at left-back, opening the door for veteran defensive midfielder Taras Stepanenko. Stepanenko is still expected to retain his spot at the base of midfield alongside Mykola Shaparenko but there is a challenge coming from Volodymyr Brazhko. Another selection issue will be in goal with Benfica’s number one Anatoliy Trubin potentially coming in for Andriy Lunin, who made two costly errors in their defeat to Romania.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Trubin; Konoplya, Zabarnyi, Matvyenko, Zinchenko; Shaparenko, Stepanenko; Tsygankov, Sudakov, Mudryk; Dovbyk
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE: Mykolenko (Injured)
KEY STATS
- Slovakia are aiming to win two consecutive EURO group stage matches for the first time.
- Slovakia have won their last three international matches without conceding a goal
- Slovakia have lost only two of their last 12 competitive matches (W8 D2).
- Slovakia have lost only three of their last 18 international matches (W10 D5).
- Slovakia are aiming to keep a clean sheet in successive EURO matches for the first time.
- Slovakia have been losing at half-time in only one of their last six EURO group matches (W3 D2).
- Slovakia won 4-1 against Ukraine at home in the most recent encounter between these two teams in the UEFA Nations League in November 2018. Overall, Ukraine lead to head-to-head record in their previous eight meetings with three wins to two, the pair have also drawn on three occasions.
- Ukraine have lost eight of their last nine EURO group stage matches (W1).
- Ukraine recovered from a defeat in their opening match at EURO 2020 to record a 2-1 victory against North Macedonia in their second game.
- Ukraine have failed to score in seven of their last nine EURO group stage matches.
- Ukraine have been winning at half-time in only one of their previous 12 EURO matches.
- Ukraine have not lost two international matches in a row since November 2020.
- Oleksandr Zinchenko would be only the second player to reach the milestone of ten EURO appearance for Ukraine if he features here. Andriy Yarmolenko is their record holder with 12 appearances.
SLOVAKIA VS UKRAINE PREDICTION
Francesco Calzona is a front foot and proactive, progressive manager in terms of his style of play and Slovakia showed glimpses of that, despite having to generally hold on against Belgium the other day. They will know that six points will send them through and with Romania to come, this is not necessarily a free hit but verges into that territory. Ukraine will surely not be as profligate or as confused as they were against the Romanians the other day and another surprising thriller could be in store for this one.
SLOVAKIA VS UKRAINE TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
