Ukraine – Austria | 21/06/2021 EURO

The two nations head into the meeting level on three points after both beating North Macedonia and losing to Netherlands in their opening two matches, so a draw would almost certainly see both teams progress to the knockout stages.

Ukraine are on the cusp of progressing from the European Championship group stage for the first time in their history after beating North Macedonia 2-1, ending a run of six consecutive losses at this tournament. That result means Andriy Shevchenko’s side will finish second in Group C if they can avoid defeat here in their first-ever competitive meeting with Austria.

Their tournament hasn’t been dull thanks to an exciting average of four total goals per game so far (W1, L1) – which is already higher than in their previous two finals appearances. In fact, Ukraine are yet to keep a clean sheet across their eight all-time Euro fixtures, the longest streak of its kind. They’ve not managed one in a H2H either (W1, L1), but do at least have a decent competitive record vs sides ranked better than them since 2020 (W2, D1, L4).

Austria jointly hold the record for most appearances at the Euros without reaching the knockouts (two – alongside Ukraine, Bulgaria and Scotland), but they should end that if they can avoid defeat here. A draw would take Austria up to four points, exceeding the tally of three that defending champions Portugal managed in 2016, whilst a win would see them leapfrog Ukraine into second.

However, ‘Das Team’ have failed to beat a top-50 ranked nation at the Euros in six attempts (D1, L5). If they’re to change that, Franco Foda’s side must be more clinical considering they hit the target just once from eight attempts against the Netherlands, and have led at HT only once across their previous 11 matches – and that was vs the Faroe Islands!

 

Date: 21/06/2021
Time: 19:00
Venue: Arena Națională (Bucharest)
Pick for this match:
“X” – @ 2.05( Betwinner )

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