In Matchday 3 of the 2024 UEFA European Championship, Ukraine will take on Belgium in a Group E clash at the MHP Arena in Stuttgart, Germany.
The scenario of Group E is possibly the most intriguing among all the six groups of this competition after the first two rounds, as all four teams of this group are tied on points, with 3 points each. With one win and one loss, and a goal difference of +1, Belgium is placed second. Interestingly enough, Ukraine also won one match and lost another. However, since their goal difference of -2 is the worst of the lot, they are placed at the bottom of the standings.
What have they done so far?
Ukraine didn’t have the best of starts to their journey in this tournament, as Romania handed them a 0-3 thrashing. Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin, and Denis Dragus were on the scoresheet against Serhiy Rebrov’s team in that match.
But that being said, the Blue and Yellow returned in style with a 2-1 win over Slovakia in their second match. Ukraine conceded first in that match too, as Ivan Schranz scored an early goal for Slovakia, but second-half strikes from Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk helped Ukraine bag all three points.
As for Belgium, their story has been similar as they suffered a shock defeat in the first match. Domenico Tedesco’s men started their campaign against Slovakia, where a Schranz goal succumbed Belgium to a 0-1 defeat.
But the Red Devils were seen in their usual mojo in the last match against Romania. An early goal from Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans and a late strike from Manchester City superstar Kevin De Bruyne meant Belgium won that match by a 2-0 margin.
Head to Head Record
This will be a historic fixture, as Belgium and Ukraine have never locked horns in football. Their U-21 teams have met previously in the UEFA U-21 Euro qualifiers, but this will be the first time when the senior teams of both nations will be meeting.
Team News
Vitaliy Mykolenko could play from the start for Ukraine
Ukraine missed their first-choice left-back Vitaly Mykolenko in the matches against Romania and Slovakia, as he was nursing an injury. But Rebrov has confirmed that Mykolenko has recovered well and will be fit to play in this match.
With the return of the Everton player, Rebrov will have a fully fit squad to pick his starting XI from. There are no suspensions, but if Yaremchuk and Yukhym Konoplya see yellow cards in this match, they will not play in the Round of 16 if Ukraine qualifies for the second round.
On the other hand, Tedesco will not be as fortunate as his Ukrainian counterpart. Midfielder Axel Witsel is down with an adductor injury, while right-back Thomas Meunier is yet to recover from a thigh issue. Neither of those players is likely to be available against Ukraine.
That is not all, as Belgium will also miss the services of Dodi Lukebakio. After receiving two yellow cards in two consecutive matches, the Sevilla winger will have to serve a one-match suspension.
Predicted XIs
Ukraine (4-3-3): Anatoliy Trubin; Oleksandr Tymchyk, Iliya Zabarnyi, Mykola Matvienko, Vitaliy Mykolenko; Heorhiy Sudakov, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mykola Shaparenko; Andriy Yarmolenko, Artem Dovbyk, Mykhaylo Mudryk.
Belgium (4-2-3-1): Koen Casteels; Timothy Castagne, Wout Faes, Jan Vertonghen, Arthur Theate; Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana; Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne, Leandro Trossard; Romelu Lukaku.
Prediction
Over the last few years, we have seen Ukraine punching above its weight on multiple occasions. But considering Belgium has got more quality across every area on the pitch and more individual match-winners, the Red Devils will start this match as the favorites.