The penultimate group to conclude at Euro 2024 is Group E and it does so on Wednesday afternoon with the pick of the matches seeing Ukraine going up against a Belgium side with huge expectations in Stuttgart.
This group is delightfully poised with all teams on three points going into the last set of matches so we basically have a straight shootout to qualify for the next stage. A draw will send Belgium through while Ukraine have to win to ensure they go through.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the BBC1 channel in the UK with the build-up to the contest beginning at 4.30pm ahead of the kick off at 5pm.
Ukraine
There was a good deal of positivity and optimism around Ukraine heading into the tournament after some of their players had standout seasons in the top domestic leagues but that soon diminished after they completely fluffed their lines in the opening match when they went down 3-0 to Romania with one of the worst displays of the competition so far. To their credit, they rebounded with a win over Slovakia in their second game but they still have some work to do if they are to make it through to the knockout stage.
I still don’t think we saw much from Ukraine in that second game to suggest that their longevity in this tournament is going to be a long as they would like but there is no doubting the fact that they have the talent in the forward areas to come good. They haven’t looked anything like solid enough at the back though and while a goalkeeper change between matches helped, they still need to offer so much more if they are going to escape the group.
Belgium
I did wonder if the lower expectation around this Belgium side heading into the tournament would be a positive for them but we didn’t really see any evidence of that in the opening game when they went down to Slovakia. They were nothing like as bad as Ukraine were in their opener but that was a match they would have expected to win and it left them needing to repair the damage. They did that with a 2-0 win over Romania which wasn’t quite as comfortable as the score suggested, but it has left them needing just a draw here to progress.
You really do wonder if this Belgian defence is good enough to stand up to the pressure it is likely to go under the longer they remain in the tournament. This might be a good test of that given that Ukraine have to win the game. Belgium have looked really good going forward so far though, albeit they will be disappointed with some of the chances they have missed and the fact that their good play hasn’t really had the reward it has deserved.
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Team News
Ukraine are hopeful that Everton left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko could be involved for the first time in the tournament after he has got rid of an ankle injury. That would free Oleksandr Zinchenko up to return to the middle of the park.
Belgium will be forced to make one change for this match with Dodi Lukebakio having picked up two yellow cards in the tournament already. Axel Witsel and Thomas Meunier remain doubts having missed out on both games so far.
Betting
Belgium look a little bit short to me at 4/6 to win a game where they only need a draw to secure their progression but we have had three of these types of matches so far in the tournament where a team has had to win to stay alive and they have shown absolutely no intent to do so. You could argue Ukraine don’t need to win this but they would be foolish to think the other game will end in anything other than a draw so they do need to win.
I’ll therefore take the chance that they setup a little more attacking, in approach if not in formation, and go with both teams to score here. Neither of these defences has offered anything to suggest they can’t be breached by quality offenses and while the Ukraine attack has been clunky, the fact they have been together for a couple of weeks now should surely bring out their best attacking showing of the tournament so far. The state of play should dictate that too. Two good attacks led by focal number nines who have scored plenty of goals domestically this season taking on two weak looking defences can lead to both teams finding the net here.
Tips
Back Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Coral
