The final match of Group C is a huge game for Poland as they bid to make the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time. They face Ukraine in Marseille knowing that if they avoid defeat they will be safely through. In truth they should be safe even as a best third placed team but anything but a defeat guarantees their progress.
Ukraine go into the game knowing that no matter what happens they are out of the tournament having lost both their matches so far. They are playing purely for pride in this match.
Ukraine went into the tournament with high hopes of causing an upset in the event but things haven’t gone to plan. They looked like they could produce something of note when they had Germany pinned back in the early stages of that match but couldn’t finish several chances and against Northern Ireland they got it all wrong and were found out.
We can safely assume we’ve not seen the best of Ukraine in the tournament and perhaps now they are out of the competition they can free up and play with a bit more panache and show people just what they can do and how they managed to qualify for the event.
Key Man
With so many changes expected it is hard to pin down a key man but assuming he plays then Sevilla winger Yevhen Konoplyanka could be vital for Ukraine here. He will need to keep the ball in attacking areas to take the pressure off his own full backs and with the side yet to score a goal in the tournament all eyes will be on him to see if he can deliver that before they leave.
Poland have been one of the surprises of the tournament and they are very unlucky not to be going into this match off the back of successive wins. Having finally ground Northern Ireland down in their opening match they were so unfortunate not to beat Germany in their second one.
When you consider that Robert Lewandowski, widely acclaimed as their star man going into the tournament, hasn’t even had a shot on target in the tournament yet there is so much more to come from this Polish side and that has to give them confidence going forward into the knockout stages.
Key Man
With Ukraine having an aging left back at this tournament the right winger for Poland Kamil Grosicki could be a key player in this match. He should have the beating of his opposite number for most of the afternoon and in Milik and Lewandowski he has two wonderful forwards to provide ammunition for. Expect him to feature strongly in the game.
Team News
Ukraine might well make wholesale changes off the back of the defeat to Northern Ireland in the previous match. Now that they are out they might use the squad to give them some experience of a competitive environment heading into their World Cup qualifiers.
Poland have a number of players on yellow cards but they can’t really afford to rest too many of them as they wouldn’t be 100% guaranteed with a place in the next round were they to lose here especially if that defeat was a heavy one.
Head to Head
Poland have two wins over Ukraine in the past although they probably won’t need reminding that they came in the first two times they met. Ukraine have three wins from the seven matches which all came in the last four outings while there have been two draws as well.
Four of the last five matches between the two teams have ended with less than 2.5 goals so it might not be the best idea to expect a high scoring classic here.
Betting
This should be an easier match to bet on than some in this round because Ukraine are out and Poland are as good as through so there is no need for either to produce a Switzerland or Slovakia defensive performance.
I fancy both sides will have a go here. Poland can treat this as a warm up for the knockout stages and I think they’ll look to get the ball out wide and get it in to Robert Lewandowski and get his confidence up a bit and they should be able to do that because up front Ukraine have shown nothing all tournament.
Poland will have to be wary of the threat from wide areas of Ukraine but by and large we’ve seen Poland on the front foot in this tournament and if they get onto that again here I would expect them to run out the winners of this one.
Tips
WON – Back Poland to beat Ukraine for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with NetBet
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