Ukraine vs. England Prediction: Euro 2020 Betting Odds

Jordan Ramsay
July 2, 2021

In a battle of heavyweights England came out on top 2-0 in their Round of 16 match against Germany. They’ll leave Wembley for the first time in this tournament when they head to Rome to face Ukraine in the quarterfinals. Ukraine is the surprise quarterfinal team after booking their ticket to the final eight with a 2-1 extra-time win over Sweden.

England is a -266 favourite to win on the soccer odds, while Ukraine is a heavy +716 underdog. A regulation draw is +360.

Ukraine vs. England Betting Odds

As neither team has managed to score more than two goals in a single Euro 2020 match, it’s not surprising to see the Under 2.5-goals favoured at -133. England moves to -807 on ‘draw no bet’, with Ukraine at +431. Harry Kane looks like he’s starting to find his form for England. As a result, Kane is the favoured first goalscorer at +281 and the favoured anytime goalscorer at -128. The favoured exact score is a 1-0 win for England.

With powerhouses like France, Germany and Portugal eliminated, England is now a +192 tournament-favourite. There’s not as much optimism about the Ukrainians as they’re -556 to fall in the quarters. As a big part of England’s attack and with three goals in four matches, Raheem Sterling is a +600 favourite to win Best Player of the Tournament.

Ukraine

Ironically, the only reason Ukraine even qualified for the Round of 16 was because of a Swedish win over Poland. Ukraine repaid that help by knocking the Swedes out of the tournament. Oleksandr Zinchenko’s early goal was enough to get Ukraine to extra-time. Substitute Artem Dovbyk took over from there as his strike in the 121st minute secured the win. This will be Ukraine’s first quarterfinal appearance at the Euro’s. A win would put them into the semifinals of a major international tournament for the first time ever. It’s a pretty amazing run for a team that only picked up three of a possible nine points in the group stage.

After a brutal challenge from Sweden’s Marcus Danielson, there are fears Ukrainian striker Artem Besedin could be sidelined until 2022. Danielson was shown a straight red card on the play and although Besedin didn’t rupture his ACL, he won’t return to the tournament. Oleksandr Zubkov could see action against England after recovering from a calf strain.

Ukraine deserves credit for reaching the quarterfinals, but they were certainly helped by other teams along the way. They play a similar style to perennial contender Germany, but the issue is they’re not nearly as skilled as the Germans. Going against the team that knocked Germany out of the tournament doesn’t bode well for Ukraine in this match.

England

With offensive threats like Kane and Sterling in the English lineup, it has been defence that’s made the difference for this squad. England’s staunch defence has gone 540 minutes without allowing a goal and hasn’t been scored on once in this tournament. Sterling scored the winner in the 75th minute against Germany, before Kane added an insurance goal to put the match away late. If history is any factor, it could be a nail-biter against Ukraine. England has gone to penalties in all three of their previous Euro quarterfinal matches. The only time these teams have ever met in the Euro’s ended in a 1-0 group stage win for England in 2012.

After a bit of a COVID scare, Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell are both available for the quarters, though Chilwell knocking Luke Shaw out of the lineup is doubtful. Mount, however, could have a solid chance to replace Bukayo Saka to create a three-headed attack with Kane and Sterling. It’s tough to see the lineup changing more than that after how well England played against Germany.

This will be the first match of this tournament England hasn’t played in front of a home crowd, but you can be sure some English supporters will find their way to Rome. This is as favourable a matchup as England could hope for in the quarterfinals. With the semifinal and final to be held in London at Wembley, this could be shaping up for a storybook ending for the Three Lions.