Slovakia vs Ukraine Match Prediction
European Championship
Düsseldorf Arena
Lunin was the biggest player to blame for Ukraine’s loss, as he made two crucial errors that both led to Romania scoring. The Ukrainians on the day just could not create enough to break down the mighty Romanians, and that is what eventually cost them the three points.
Slovakia had just 39% possession in comparison to Belgium’s 61%, but their goal in the 7th minute ended up being the eventual matchwinner. Doku’s error saw Schranz pounce and score the only goal of the game. Martin Dubravka was brilliant in goal, denying the likes of Trossard, Bakayoko, and Onana the chance to keep his team in the lead. Slovakia were also fortunate on the day, with Belgium having three goals ruled out on the day.
Facts:
- Slovakia does not have the best of records when it comes to winning games against Ukraine. The Slovaks have won only 2 of their last 8 games, drawing 3 and losing 3 against Ukraine. The last time, however, when these two teams met in 2018, Slovakia ended up winning 4-1.
- Ukraine, overall, does have a good record against Slovakia, but it does not tend to get many results against it in major competitions. Ukraine ended up beating Slovakia in just 1 of their last 4 competitive games, drawing 1 and losing 2. Their only win came against them in the UEFA Nations League, where they ended up winning 1-0.
- Slovakia did the unthinkable and beat Belgium in their opening game of the Euros. This was Slovakia’s 4th win in major competitions out of 12 attempts, drawing 2 and losing 6. In the 2010 World Cup and the Euro editions of 2016, 2020, and 2024, players have scored at least one goal in each of those four competitions. If they are indeed able to beat Ukraine, then it will be the first time in their history to win two games in a major tournament.
- Ukraine’s last two games in the Euros have both turned out to be massive defeats for them. They lost to England in the last edition of the Euros 4-0 and were beaten by Romania in the first game this year by three goals to nil. In the first 10 games in the Euros, Ukraine never lost a game by more than 2 goals; however, in their last 2 games, they have lost both by a margin of 3 or more.
Slovakia vs Ukraine: Chance of Winning
When it comes to the head-to-head record, no team has been able to dominate the other in outright terms. In the last 5 games played between these two nations, Slovakia has won 2 games; 1 game ended in a draw, with Ukraine winning on 2 occasions as well. Their last meeting in the UEFA Nations League saw Slovakia crush Ukraine. Goals from Rusnak, Kucka, Zrelak, and Robert Mak saw Slovakia score four goals on the day. Yevhen Konoplyanka was the solitary goal scorer for Ukraine on the day.
Ukraine has the individuals to do much better than they did against Romania. The morale in the squad should not be affected that much, as they actually had a pretty good game overall. Players like Dovbyk and Mudryk need to step up when it comes to creating and finishing off chances. They will also need to do well defensively, as massive errors from experienced players like Lunin need to stop.
Slovakia currently sit in the driver's seat, and they will want to build on that. They, however, cannot once again leave it to fate. Slovakia needs to do more in terms of its attacking output. Playing defensively against this Ukrainian team could be problematic, especially if the latter scores first. Based on everything we do, we expect Ukraine to have a better chance of winning.
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Slovakia vs Ukraine: predictions and betting tips
According to the bookmakers, Ukraine go into this game as slight odds-on favourites to beat Slovakia on Friday. Ukraine are minor odds favourites to win this game due to their having the better set of individuals. On another day, Ukraine would have been massive favourites to win this game, but their loss to Romania and Slovakia’s win against Belgium have made this a tighter affair in the eyes of the bookies.
Slovakia were highly efficient when it came to keeping Belgium out in their last game. Slovakia have always played a model against big teams in which they keep holding their defensive line. Hence, their goal output is not the highest in games. Slovakia scored just a solitary goal against Belgium, which is on par with their average goal-scoring tally of 1.8 goals in the last 2 years.
It was indeed surprising how Ukraine did not manage to open their account in the first game of the Euros against Romania. Ukraine is known for their formidable attack, which consists of players like Dovbyk and Mudryk, who play for some of the top clubs in Europe. They have averaged 1.5 goals per game in their last 2 years of playing football, which is much lower than they are capable of.
Based on these numbers and past fixtures taken into account, here are our tips and predictions for this game. We do not think this game will be a very high-scoring affair. We can see both teams tightening up their defences, especially Slovakia, which will want to get the point to seal its spot in the knockout stages. Ukraine will need to attack more, considering what is at stake for them.
In terms of goals, we expect both teams to score a combined tally of under 3.5 goals. We do expect both Ukraine and Slovakia to score in this game. Slovakia, even though they kept a clean sheet, were lucky not to concede against Belgium. Two goals were ruled out against Slovakia in their game against Belgium, which was a big stroke of luck.
We assume that this game has all the ingredients of a defence vs attack situation. Hence, we want Ukraine to have more of the ball in this game. The emphasis is on Ukraine taking the attack on Slovakia so we can see the former defending deep. Hence, we believe that Ukraine will have over 55% possession in this game. We also back the Ukrainians to get the first goal in this game.
For Ukraine, we back one of their biggest hit-and-miss players, Mykhailo Mudryk, to get something in this game. Mudryk actually did everything in the game against Romania except find the back of the net. Mudryk had some great stats to back him up, as he had 7 touches in Slovakia’s box, 2 shots inside the box, 3 successful dribbles, and 6 crosses attempted. The Chelsea winger ranked first in the game for all the above scenarios. With Ukraine bound to play more on the attacking front, we could see Mudryk flourish. We expect him to register a goal on an assist anytime in the game.
For Slovakia, we will back their matchwinner, Ivan Schranz, to keep his goal-scoring momentum going. Ivan Schranz could become only the second Slovakian player to score more than one goal in a major tournament behind Robert Vittek if he finds the net on Friday. The goal against Belgium was Schranz’s fourth goal in 23 caps for his nation.
Final Prediction:Ukraine to beat Slovakia
Slovakia Player List
Goalkeepers: Martin Dubravka, Marek Rodak, Henrich Ravas
Defenders:Peter Pekarik, Milan Skriniar, Norbert Gyomber, David Hancko, Denis Vavro, Vernon De Marco, Adam Obert, Matus Kmet, Sebastian Kosa
Midfielders:Juraj Kucka, Ondrej Duda, Patrik Hrosovsky, Stanislav Lobotka, Matus Bero, Laszlo Benes
Forwards:Robert Bozenik, Lukas Haraslin, Tomas Suslov, Ivan Schranz, David Strelec, David Duris, Lubomir Tupta, Leo Sauer
Slovakia Playing XI
Player |
ole |
Martin Dubravka |
Goalkeeper |
Peter Pekarik |
Defender |
Milan Skriniar |
Defender |
Denis Vavro |
Defender |
David Hancko |
Defender |
Juraj Kucka |
Midfielder |
Ondrej Duda |
Midfielder |
Stanislav Lobotka |
Midfielder |
Lukas Haraslin |
Attacker |
Robert Bozenik |
Attacker |
Ivan Schranz |
Attacker |
Slovakia Team Form(Last five games): W, W, W, D, L
Ukraine Player List
Goalkeepers:Andriy Lunin, Anatoliy Trubin, Heorhiy Bushchan
Defenders:Yukhym Konoplia, Valeriy Bondar, Mykola Matvienko, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Maksym Taloverov, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Svatok, Bohdan Mykhaylichenko
Midfielders:Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Heorhiy Sudakov, Andriy Yarmolenko, Volodymyr Brazhko, Mykola Shaparenko, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Ruslan Malinovskyi, Mykhailo Mudryk, Viktor Tsyhankov, Oleksandr Zinchenko
Attackers:Artem Dovbyk, Roman Yaremchuk, Vladyslav Vanat.
Ukraine Playing XI
Player |
Role |
Andriy Lunin |
Goalkeeper |
Yukhym Konoplia |
Defender |
Illia Zabarnyi |
Defender |
Mykola Matvienko |
Defender |
Vitaliy Mykolenko |
Defender |
Viktor Tsyhankov |
Midfielder |
Mykola Shaparenko |
Midfielder |
Taras Stepanenko |
Midfielder |
Mykhailo Mudryk |
Attacker |
Heorhiy Sudakov |
Attacker |
Roman Yaremchuk |
Attacker |
Ukraine Team Form(Last five games): L, W, L, D, W
Slovakia vs Ukraine Head-To-Head
Matches Played:8
Slovakia wins:2
Ukraine wins:3
Matches are drawn:3
Slovakia vs Ukraine Betting Odds
Slovakia to win the match (PARIMATCH): 3.94.
Ukraine to win the match (PARIMATCH): 2.18.
Match to end in a draw (PARIMATCH): 3.43.
The betting odds have been calculated based on team performances in previous matches, player records etc. Odds are subject to change.
Our Prediction
Favorites to win
Ukraine
Slovakia, on the other hand, defended very well against Belgium and also took their chance to score. However, on another day, Belgium could have bagged at least another three goals, with two being disallowed on the day due to a minor offside and a handball. We expect Ukraine to go for it in this game. Slovakia’s approach in this game will need to be assessed, but we do feel that they will be playing for a point in this game. Our prediction for this game is for Ukraine to win 2-1 at the Merkur Spiel Arena in Düsseldorf.
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