If you weren’t heartened by Andriy Shevchenko’s two goals against Sweden in front of his adoring public on Monday night, then shame on you. The veteran striker rolled back the years as Ukraine beat Sweden 2-1 in their opening Group D clash. Now though, the test looks stiffer as France arrive in town looking to top up their one point tally.
The key to this particular match for us punters is trying to evaluate just how good Sweden are. They may lose all three of their games, in which case Ukraine’s win on Monday night isn’t as impressive as first thought. But it may be that they bounce back against England tonight and remain a force in the game. We’ll take the latter option and for that reason we’re siding with Ukraine getting something from this match.
France dominated possession on Monday against England in their 1-1 draw but truth be told they didn’t create that many opportunities. They were the big movers in the betting beforehand moving from 16/1 into 7/1 in the lead up to the tournament but after Monday’s draw they’ve been rightfully pushed back out to 9/1.
With all this in the mix we fancy a Draw tonight at the 12/5 that Stan James are offering. With a strong support and momentum oozing from every pore we reckon Ukraine will avoid defeat against this strong but questionable French side.
Key Facts
- France are unbeaten v Ukraine
- France are winless in eight consecutive games at European Championships and World Cup Finals.
- Ukraine were the only team to come from behind to win on Matchday One of Euro 2012
