A busy Thursday at Euro 2020 gets underway with the Group C encounter between the two sides who lost their opening match as Ukraine take on North Macedonia in a big match for both teams in Bucharest.
It isn’t off you pop for the loser here but something special will need to be done in the final match to qualify after starting out with two defeats. Even a draw means a win in the last game is likely to be necessary so hopefully both take the bull by the horns and go for it here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown in full on ITV1 for those of us following the tournament from the UK. The build-up to the match begins at 1pm with the action getting underway at 2pm.
Ukraine
No team ever wants to lose their opening match but if they are going to suffer that fate then the best way to do it is probably the way Ukraine did it which was to look to attack whenever they got the chance. Ukraine actually played some decent football in defeat to the Netherlands but were let down badly by their goalkeeper, a fate they hope won’t be repeated here. Certainly they have justifications for thinking that a repeat of the performance they gave in Amsterdam would be enough to win here.
As the tournament goes on Ukraine are going to have to tighten up at the back but for now they can concentrate on their attacking intent because it is that which is going to get them the 4-6pts they need to make it through to the next stage. The one area Andriy Shevchenko will have been disappointed is that after coming from 2-0 down against the Dutch they shot themselves in the foot to concede a winner. They need to manage positive situations better than that.
North Macedonia
I thought North Macedonia gave a pretty good account of themselves on their debut on the tournament stage in their opening match. It ended in defeat to Austria but they gave as good as they got for an hour or so and in the end the depth of the Austrian squad probably got them through. The North Macedonians can dust themselves down and go again here though and play with the freedom of a side for whom anything from here on in would be a bonus.
There is no doubt that North Macedonia carry a significant goal threat but whether they can cut it defensively at this level remains to be seen. If they can then they would have every chance here against a Ukraine side who will be well aware they don’t pick up the results they should do at tournaments. One area North Macedonia might need to be careful though is the discipline one. They picked up a couple of bookings in their opening match and could have had a couple more. They don’t need key players missing matches in this competition.
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Team News
It looks like Ukraine will be forced into a change for this match with Oleksandr Zubkov still suffering from the injury which forced him to be taken off in the loss to the Netherlands. Marlos or Viktor Tsyhankov are waiting to replace him.
North Macedonia haven’t offered any injury concerns ahead of this match but they do have Leeds ace Ezgjan Alioski and Aleksandar Trajkovski on yellow cards now and another for either would mean they miss the final group game against the Netherlands.
Betting
I said right at the outset that I expected this group to be the highest scoring one and I look to have been proved right if the opening matches in it are anything to go by. I expect to see no different here either. I say that because these two looked a whole lot better going forward than they did defensively in their defeats in their first matches. The other reason why goals look very likely here is whoever concedes first is going to have to take risks to get back into the game or else they’ll effectively be out of the tournament.
That makes me think that over 2.5 goals is a good thing in this match. Ukraine were involved in a five goal thriller which really could have had double that while there were four goals in North Macedonia’s opening game as well and that felt like the minimum there could have been there too. I don’t see either side changing their way here so over 2.5 at odds against looks to be a good bet to get the action started for the day.
Tips
Back Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with BetVictor
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