Ukraine’s dynamic duo of Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka is really, really good. Yarmolenko scored six of the team’s 17 goals during qualifying, including two in their two-legged playoff against Slovenia. Meanwhile, Konoplyanka is an outstanding winger who can give any defense problems.
The Ukrainian defense isn’t half bad either. They conceded just five goals in 12 qualifying games. There’s a strong club connection in the team – majority of the players are from Dynamo Kiev – which has contributed to their overall cohesion.
The combination of Germany and Ukraine finishing 1-2 in Group C is priced at +160.
Team Weaknesses:
As good as Yarmolenko and Konoplyanka are, Ukraine’s offense still failed to score a single goal in four games against the top two teams in their qualifying group – Spain and Slovakia.
In fairness to them, they gave up just three goals in those games, so they weren’t completely outplayed. However, it’s probably fair to wonder after those performances whether they have the overall quality to get big results against the very top competition.
Nevertheless, Ukraine should still have enough talent to move on to the round of 16, even as a top 6 third-place team. They’re priced at -200 to progress.
Team Stats (During Euro Qualifiers):
Category
Stat
Goals Scored Per Game
1.42
Goals Conceded Per Game
0.42
Goal Attempts Per Game
15.92
Pass Completion Percentage
86%
Ball Possession Percentage
55%
Starting Lineup:
Position
Name (Age)
Career Caps
Goals
Goalie
Andriy Pyatov (31)
62
0
Defender
Artem Fedetskyi (31)
46
2
Defender
Yevhen Khacheridi (28)
40
3
Defender
Yaroslav Rakitskyi (26)
37
4
Defender
Vyacheslav Shevchuk (37)
52
0
Midfielder
Denys Harmash (26)
26
2
Midfielder
Taras Stepanenko (26)
27
2
Midfielder
Serhiy Sydorchuk (25)
10
2
Forward
Yevhen Konoplyanka (26)
51
11
Forward
Andriy Yarmolenko (26)
57
23
Forward
Roman Zozulya (26)
24
3
Writer’s Prediction
Ukraine go through as the third-place team in Group C, but can’t get past the round of 16.
