England vs. Ukraine EURO 2024 Qualifiers: Preview, Odds, Predictions (March 26)

Initial Thoughts

After overcoming the Azzurri on Italian soil for the first time in over 60 years, Gareth Southgate’s England will now seek to round off a perfect start to their EURO 2024 qualifying campaign when the Three Lions welcome Ukraine to Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Narrative

England’s 2-1 win in Naples on Thursday night brought redemption on two levels.

First for the England team in general, after Italy defeated them on penalties in the EURO 2020 final. And secondly  for Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, who banished the demons of a costly World Cup penalty miss with a sweetly hit spotkick on Thursday night.

The goal brought Kane’s international tally to 54 goals from 81 caps, which saw the Three Lions captain overtake Wayne Rooney to become England’s all time top goal scorer.

To make that achievement even more impressive, Kane’s record on the international level came less than eight weeks after matching the same feat domestically for Spurs, with Kane racking up an astonishing 271 goals in 425 games for the north London club.

At the other end of the spectrum, Harry Maguire’s call up to the national team raised more than a few eyebrows, ad the same can be said of Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips as well. Both players have been bonafide bench warmers this season in the Premier League and both looked rusty on Thursday.

Maguire was at fault for Italy’s goal on the night - giving away possession cheaply and then being out of position to allow debutante Mateo Retegui to score, and offering Roberto Mancini's side a way back into the game.

Gareth Southgate’s men ultimately hung on to ground out the win - due in no small part to the amount of quality on England’s bench. This squad is literally stacked with talent, with Southgate able to call upon the likes of Phil Foden, Kieran Trippier, and James Maddison - not to mention the Chelsea trio of Connor Gallagher, Ben Chilwell and Reece James.

Nuts & Bolts

Ukraine just missed out on a spot in Qatar after losing 1-0 to Wales in the Playoff Final back in June, and since January they’ve had a new caretaker manager in former international Ruslan Rotan.

Rutan's side are on a 10-match unbeaten run in European qualifying, and have not suffered an away defeat en route to a European finals in over seven years.

Ukraine can call upon the Premier League talents of Arsenal’s and Oleksandr Zinchenko Chelsea’s Mykhaylo Mudryk, although the latter is still to find his feet in England’s top flight.

The last time these two sides met England thrashed Ukraine 4-0 thrashing in the quarter-finals of EURO 2020, and having won each of their last ten European qualifying games at home the Three Lions look set for another win on Sunday.

Homestand Picks

All odds courtesy of Northstar Bets

England & Over 2.5 Goals (+128)

England managed two goals away from home against a very defensive Italian side. Playing in front of their home fans against a team they put four past last time out, expect a high scoring win for Southgate and the Three Lions.

Harry Kane Anytime Goal (-136)

The hitman will waste no time adding to his record-breaking international tally. We’re backing Harry Kane to find the net again on Sunday.

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