Euro 2024: Slovakia v Ukraine - Match Preview & Odds
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Slovakia and Ukraine go head-to-head in Dusseldorf on Friday in their second group game of Euro 2024. The two nations enjoyed polarising starts to the tournament on Monday, placing considerable importance on the outcome of Friday’s Group E fixture. Here at betting.bet you will find expert betting tips, match analysis and the latest team news as well as free bets and odds from our partners at Betfred.
A Dramatic Start to Group E
Both nations were involved in shock results on the opening weekend however, these results came with hugely contrasting outcomes for Slovakia and Ukraine. Slovakia earned a surprise 1-0 win over Group E heavyweights Belgium just a few hours after Ukraine were humbled by Romania in a 3-0 defeat.
Slovakia took the lead against Belgium after just 7 minutes thanks to a Ivan Schranz strike and somehow weathered a series of Belgian attacks to see out the game and claim a famous win. Romelu Lukaku, one of the favourites for the Golden Boot, had two goals chalked off by VAR as Belgium’s 60% possession and 16 shots on goal could not produce a single goal in Frankfurt.
Earlier that afternoon, Ukraine arrived in Munich as the bookies’ favourites to overturn Romania. However, the underdogs romped to a 3-0 win thanks to goals for Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus. Ukraine actually achieved 71.3% possession and managed 13 shots to Romania’s 9 but the Romanians, aided by some questionable goalkeeping from Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin for Ukraine proved far more clinical.
Slovakia v Ukraine: Team News
Unsurprisingly, Slovakia are set to name an unchanged side from the one that shocked Belgium on match day one.
Everton defender Vitaliiy Mykolenko missed the defeat against Romania with a foot injury and may not yet be fit enough to start for Ukraine.
Artem Dovbyk was given the nod up front for Ukraine after a superb season for Girona in La Liga however with just one shot on goal against Romania, the 26-year-old’s place in the starting XI may come under threat. The experienced Roman Yaremchuk has long been Ukraine’s first-choice centre forward and the Valencia man will be pushing for a starting berth on Friday.
Predicted Line Ups
Slovakia: Dubravka, Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko, Kucka, Lobotka, Duda, Schranz, Haraslin, Bozenik
Ukraine: Lunin, Konoplya, Zabarnyi, Matvienko, Zinchenko, Sudakov, Stepanenko, Malinovskyi, Tsygankov, Mudryk, Dovbyk
Betting Tips
After Monday’s disappointment Ukraine need a win in Dusseldorf if they are to stand any chance of progressing to the Euro 2024 knockout stage. As they go for broke, this could produce a wide-open Group E match. Both teams to score looks an inevitability at 5/6 whilst both teams to score in the first-half should be given some real consideration at a very generous 4/1. The manner of their respective performances on Monday has to give Slovakia an edge on Friday and they can currently be backed at odds of 11/4 to win against Ukraine.
As for picking a goalscorer, Slovakia have scored nine goals in three matches so far this month and no player has scored more than once. With this in mind, we’ve looked at the domestic form of the Slovakia attackers for some assistance in picking out a likely goalscorer on Friday. Lukas Haraslin is the only likely starter to have hit double figures for league goals throughout 2023/24 and therefore the Sparta Prague winger is our pick at 4/1 to score at any time on Friday.
Picking a goalscorer for Ukraine seems slightly more straightforward. Artem Dovbyk scored 24 goals in 36 La Liga matches and came into Euro 2024 with three goals in five international matches this year. Dovbyk’s place in the Ukrainian starting XI will come under pressure if he fires another blank and Friday which makes the 7/4 on offer for him to score at any time a very attractive option. The Girona forward can alternatively be backed at 9/2 to open the scoring.
Match Odds
| Slovakia | Draw | Ukraine |
|---|---|---|
| 11/4 | 23/10 | 11/10 |
Predicted Match Result: Slovakia 2-2 Ukraine (14/1)
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