Ukraine v England Betting Preview

Following their comfortable 4-0 victory over Moldova on Friday night, England make a trip to Kiev for tonight’s meeting against the Ukraine.

England are not out of the woods yet in this group and tonight’s match could very well determine whether Roy Hodgson’s team will have to face a playoff in their bid to reach Rio. England are just one point ahead of the Ukraine in the standings having played the same number of games, and are short on attacking options heading into tonight’s encounter.

Daniel Sturridge, Wayne Rooney, Andy Carroll and Danny Welbeck are all ruled out meaning that Jermain Defoe and Rickie Lambert are the only recognised strikers in the squad. The news is that Lambert has been playing well. The Southampton man netted his second international goal in the victory over Moldova and was integral in both of Welbeck’s goals. England will need a performance of similar vintage from Lambert on Tuesday evening if they’re to get a result from a tough away fixture.

If England were to lose this match, they could be in real danger of missing out on Brazil 2014 with Montenegro performing surprisingly well and managing to keep pace with the top 2.

Remember when these two met at Wembley? England needed a late Frank Lampard penalty to salvage a draw in a game that Ukraine dominated for long periods. Lampard will win his 100^th cap on Tuesday and much of England’s burden will fall on him and Steven Gerrard to control the midfield and frustrate the opposition. If England can win the possession stakes, they have the quality going forward to win this match.

Looking at the market, I think there’s some value to be had in the goals department. England have averaged 3.5 per game and the Ukrainians nearly 3 in qualifying thus far. A lot of those goals have come against poor opposition but I still think the total goals in this match are worth a buy at 2.35.

Maybe we’ll have another crucial late goal, just as we saw in Wembley last year? The last match goal can be bought at 61 and looks a little interesting given then potential for late drama that we can expect in such a close game.

Tonight’s Spread Bets

Buy Total Goals @ 2.35

Buy Last Match Goal @ 61