World Cup 2022: Battle-Hardened Ukraine Go Head to Head with Scotland

Scotland vs Ukraine

Hampden Park will be packed to the rafters on Wednesday as Scotland welcome Ukraine for their World Cup 2022 semi-final play-off.

The victors will be just one step away from the Qatar finals and both come into the clash on a great run of from. Of course, the nation of Ukraine is suffering terribly at this moment in time and their players will need to have 100 per cent focus on this match. Scotland, too, must shut out the external noise and deliver for their fans.

Wednesday will be a night for football and nothing else, and the winners will face Wales in the play-off final on Sunday 5^th June. Scotland are slight favourites at odds of 1.64 to make it through while Ukraine are at 2.99, so this game promises to be an end-to-end, winner-takes-all contest.  

Talking Points

Robertson the Brave is ready to go again

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has always relied on his skipper Andrew Robertson, so impressive at Euro 2020, to motivate his team on the pitch, and he leads by example. The Liverpool left-back comes into this game on the back of a Champions League final heartbreak at the hands of Real Madrid and it will take a strong character to pick himself up for another huge game. But Robertson has bravery in bucket loads and Clarke can rest assured he’ll be the man at the front on Wednesday.

A superb defender and dangerous crosser of the ball, Robertson is Scotland’s best player by a margin, but Clarke does have other high-quality men in his armoury. Manchester United defensive midfielder Scott McTominay and Leeds centre-back Liam Cooper are set to start, while Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn is a real handful and a summer transfer target for West Ham. McGinn scored in Scotland’s recent 2-2 draw with Austria and he is the hosts’ most dangerous goal threat. 

Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney remains injured and that is a loss for the Scots, but Robertson will ensure the 11 on the pitch all deliver their best. 

Ukraine’s Premier quality

Fans around the world will be watching the World Cup 2022 updateson Wednesday and the vast majority will be rooting for Ukraine. But head coach Alexandr Petrakov will try to focus his team on the match in front of them, which is win or bust. 

The visitors have a team packed with talent and some familiar names to Premier League fans. Midfield ace Oleksandr Zinchenko was a key man in Manchester City’s Premier League title campaign and he scored in Ukraine’s last game, a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Everton left-back Vitaly Mykolenko was instrumental in the Toffees’ late run for survival and has a fierce shot on him, while West Ham winger Andriy Yarmolenko is a consistent performer for his country. With Real Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin in the line-up and Atalanta’s livewire attacker Ruslan Malinovskyi also set to start, this is a team which is hard to score against and also carries a serious attacking threat.

Ukraine had a virtually flawless qualifying campaign and had the misfortune of being in the same group as France. The defending world champions edged out Petrakov’s men but they were unbeaten throughout the campaign, twice drawing with Les Bleus.  

History

This is the first meeting between these two teams since 2007, when each won their home tie in the 2008 Euro qualifiers. So neither has the psychological edge and both are in fine form. 

Whichever nation makes it through this tie, theWorld Cup 2022 betting oddswill take a good look. Either Scotland or Ukraine would be a decent bet to make it through the group stages at least.

The Scots are unbeaten in eight and the only loss in their qualifiers came against group winners Denmark. Meanwhile, Ukraine are unbeaten in ten games, and seven on the road, so they will be a tough nut to crack.

Betting Tip

With home advantage and at SBOTOPodds of 2.20 Scotland are favourites to make it through to the play-off final while Ukraine are a dangerous opponent at a price of 2.91. 

A correct scoreline of 1-1 is at 5.03 and, with both teams on unbeaten runs that outcome is a real possibility. Robertson will rally his team and the fans but Ukraine are made of stern stuff and their players will be determined to give their friends and family, back home, something to smile about.

This clash will be an emotional affair and with no little quality. It’s a shame both teams can’t go through… 

 

●●●

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS

Stay updated with everything sports and betting.

Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.