We have been a little disappointed with Ukraine’s performances so far in this tournament, especially that first match against Romania, but the fact of the matter is all of the countries in this group are sitting on three points, so there is still everything to play for.
Belgium also didn’t exactly impress in their first game against Slovakia, but we feel that they are settling into the tournament and playing with the same style and flair that we are used to.
Odds and Predictions
We strongly fancy Belgium to win this match and it looks like the bookies agree with us.
They are favourites at odds of 1.65, Ukraine are priced at 4.75 and the odds for the draw are 4.33.
Those odds for Belgium are particularly skinny and even though they are a confident selection for us, Ukraine has also improved in the second game of the tournament, so they are a good price for those who fancy backing the outsider.
Anyway, the first one of our predictions has to be a Belgium win with a scoreline of 0 – 2 at odds of 8.50.
We also feel that Kevin De Bruyne is starting to show his quality, so the last one of our tips on this match is for him to score in the ‘To score at any time’ market’ at odds of 3.0.
Comparison and Statistics from Past Meetings between the Teams
Ukraine and Belgium have faced each other head-to-head five times in their footballing history.
In these matches, Belgium has won three times, Ukraine has won once, and one match ended in a draw.
The last five H2H matches are listed below.
| Past Meetings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 Jun 2024 | belgium | 3-1 | ukraine | Friendly Game |
| 03 Mar 2016 | belgium | 3-0 | ukraine | Friendly Game |
| 06 Sep 2013 | ukraine | 0-0 | belgium | World Cup Qualifier |
| 06 Jun 2011 | belgium | 2-0 | ukraine | Friendly Game |
| 19 Nov 2009 | belgium | 1-1 | ukraine | Friendly Game |
Expected Line Ups
We have previously mentioned the strength of the Belgian side, with the strength they have in-depth becoming evident in their victory against Romania.
Kevin De Bruyne was superb and the mere presence of Romelu Lukaku is enough to strike fear into the hearts of any defence.
We have been impressed with the performance of Youri Tielemans for Aston Villa throughout the last season and he seems to be reproducing that form for his country.
For Ukraine, it is all about passion, but we don’t believe that pride will be enough to beat this Belgian side.
Ukraine (4-3-3): Heorhiy Bushchan; Oleksandr Tymchyk, Illya Zabarnyi, Mykola Matviyenko, Vitaliy Mykolenko; Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ruslan Malinovskyi; Viktor Tsyhankov, Roman Yaremchuk, Mykhailo Mudryk.
Belgium (4-3-3): Matz Sels; Timothy Castagne, Wout Faes, Jan Vertonghen, Arthur Theate; Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans, Kevin De Bruyne; Jeremy Doku, Romelu Lukaku, Leandro Trossard.
How Far Will These Teams Progress in the Tournament?
In our book, Belgium will finish top of Group E as well as stand a great chance of progressing past the round of 16.
Things will become clearer when we find out who will be playing each other in the round of 16 matches, but if our predictions are correct, Ukraine will finish the Group E games on three points and whilst it is possible, the chances are that won’t be enough for them to qualify for the next stage so this will be the end of the road for them.
