Ukraine – North. Ireland

Ukraine and Northern Ireland are looking for their first points in Euro 2016 and it might actually take a win for either side to stand chances of going trough.

Ukraine lost 2-0 in the first round against Germany but it was a very good display from the Eastern Europeans. They played positive football, created chances and if they had a bit of luck, they could have gotten a goal and a draw in that one. Ukraine showed some pretty good offense in the last few weeks, even though they were more of a defensive side during the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

Northern Ireland has played the ugliest football in the first round of the group stages. They parked the bus against Poland (0-1) and failed to put any kind of pressure on them, even if Poland isn`t the best defensive team out there. It wasn`t a surprise, really. Northern Ireland won its qualifying group, but it`s safe to say they were not the best team overall and the group was dirt poor, with Romania and Hungary as main opposition. The Northern Irish had a lot of matches in which they defended in numbers there as well. It`s even more difficult for them to score goals now, as the level of opposition is superior and their main option up front, Kyle Lafferty, is in dreadful form. Their main offensive gameplan consists in long balls to Lafferty, but he`s not playing good enough to do anything with them.

Place your bet on Ukraine – Northern Ireland with top Euro 2016 odds @ 1xBet now!

Team news & lineups:

Both teams are healthy and might field the same lineups as in the first round.

Ukraine: Pyatov – Fedetsky, Khacheridi, Rakytskiy, Shevchuk – Stepanenko, Sydorchuk – Yarmolenko, Kovalenko, Konoplyanka – Zozulya

Northern Ireland: McGovern – McAuley, Cathcart, Evans – McLaughlin, Baird, Davis, Norwood, Dallas – Washington – Lafferty

Ukraine has been a rather defensive team during the qualifiers, failing to score in 4 matches against Spain and Slovakia but also conceding just 3 goals in those games. However, in the pre – Euro 2016 friendlies and in the first match against Germany they showed a more offensive approach.

Despite the above, it will be difficult for Ukraine to score goals against an ultra defensive Northern Irish team, especially in such a key game. Poland was the highest scoring team in the qualifiers and we saw how hard it was for them to find the net against the Brits.

You can expect Northern Ireland to park the bus once again, while Ukraine might revert to its more cautious and defensive style of play in such a key game. The Ukrainians know that if they allow a goal, it will be extremely difficult to recover, so I expect them to focus on staying safe at the back first and foremost, patiently securing possession and building attacks in order to score at some point during the 90 minutes.

It`s true that both teams need a win, especially Northern Ireland, but that doesn`t mean they will go all out attack. More likely, they will be ultra cautious, trying to stay in the game and hope to deliver a killer blow late in the second half. I will bet against goals here, so my tip is under 2 goals to be scored. Prediction: Ukraine – Northern Ireland 0-0.

Pick: under 2 goals
Odds: 2.19 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 9.52
Event date: 16 June