Kick-off: 1900, 03/06/2021
Stadium: Dnipro Arena
TV: Sky Sports
Northern Ireland enjoyed a good win over Malta on Sunday and are now fancied to hold their own versus Ukraine in Dnipro.
Andriy Shevchenko’s side are preparing for the delayed Euro 2020 finals but do not appear to put too much store in friendly results.
We’re taking 5/2 for a draw as our first Ukraine vs Northern Ireland prediction.
A Look At Ukraine’s Betting Odds
Ukraine can look forward to facing Netherlands, Austria and North Macedonia in Group C at Euro 2020.
They performed really well to qualify as group winners ahead of Portugal, picking up six victories and two draws from eight games.
Finishing bottom off a tough Nations League pool was no disgrace, with home wins over Spain and Switzerland notable efforts.
This year’s World Cup matches have produced mixed outcomes, though, with a fine 1-1 draw in France followed by less impressive repeat results when hosting Finland and Kazakhstan.
West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko, Oleksandr Zinchenko of Manchester City and Atalanta midfielder Ruslan Malinovsky feature in a useful squad.
However, it is Ukraine’s friendly form which worries us most ahead of this contest.
They lost 7-1 to France and 2-0 to Poland in such matches last year while a recent 1-1 draw with Bahrain in Kharkiv required a stoppage-time equaliser.
Looking at the Ukraine vs Northern Ireland odds, the hosts are 7/1 to feature in a fifth consecutive 1-1 stalemate.
A Look At Northern Ireland’s Betting Odds
Northern Ireland narrowly missed out on qualifying for Euro 2020 via the play-offs after finishing a respectable third behind Germany and Netherlands in their pool.
Ian Baraclough’s side beat Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties but were then edged out 2-1 by Slovakia in extra-time.
The men in green began their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 loss in Italy before drawing 0-0 with Bulgaria in Belfast.
When facing Malta in Austria over the weekend, Jordan Jones was gifted an early opener and quickfire goals from Gavin Whyte and Ali McCann finished the job after the break.
“We needed it,” Cardiff midfielder Whyte said of the win. “The results haven’t been what we deserved lately but we really deserved this win.
“But we need to regroup and go again because we have another game in a couple of days. Hopefully, we’ll come out of this trip with two wins.”
That was Baraclough’s maiden win as manager in normal time at the 12th attempt and a first occasion when scoring more than once.
Whyte added of the next contest: “I think it will be a tougher test but it’s one we are really looking forward to.”
Let’s take a punt on the visitors to open the scoring at 5/2 to complete our Ukraine vs Northern Ireland betting tips.
Additional stats
Last result:
UKRAINE 1-1 Bahrain – Yaremchuk
Malta 0-3 NORTHERN IRELAND – Jones, Whyte, McCann
Head-to-head: Ukraine 0-2 N Ireland, Ukraine 0-0 N Ireland, Ukraine 0-0 N Ireland
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