Germany vs Ukraine Betting Tips & Predictions

Germany’s form is not the stuff you expect from World Champions. The World Cup winners haven’t been at their best since their triumph in Brazil and only just claimed the top spot in their Euro 2016 qualifying group as they pipped Poland to the post by just one point.

This qualifying period included taking just one point from two matches against Republic of Ireland, and since then they have lost three of their six matches as well. They did manage a comfortable, if unspectacular, 2-0 win against Hungary in their final warm up friendly.

An own goal in the 39th minute put Germany in the lead, but despite their dominance of the ball it took until the 63rd minute for Thomas Muller to net Germany’s second. He will undoubtedly be a major player for Germany if they perform well, and he has proven time and time again that he loves the big occasion.

There are major question marks though after Germany’s 3-1 defeat to Slovakia, and I think the loss of captain Phillip Lahm after his retirement has hit them hard. They are also without Ikay Gundogan and Marco Reus due to injury, and Bastian Schweinsteiger is expecting to miss a few games with his injury troubles.

Ukraine are in much better form than their opposition coming into the competition, but they are lacking in quality when compared to the talented Germany squad. Their major threats will come from Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka on the wings, and they will need to contribute goals as well due to Ukraine’s lack of striking options.

They will be playing counter attacking football, especially against the bigger teams like Germany, for much of the competition and they will be hoping that their solidity at the back and their pace on the wings will be enough to see them through the group stages.

They’ve performed well in the build up to Euro 2016 though. Yarmolenko and Konoplyanka both scored in a 3-1 win over Albania after their 4-3 win at Romania. These results made it five wins and one drawn in their last six games, and they have only lost one of their last 13 matches as well.

Germany have only kept one clean sheet in their last nine matches and their full backs, if they play with them, look a bit exposed. This will be pleasing news to Yarmolenko and Konoplyanka, and the fact that Ukraine have netted seven goals in their last two matches will be a confidence booster too.

Ukraine haven’t failed to score in any of their last six matches either, so I think they’ll be able to get a goal against an unusually vulnerable Germany side who have shipped nine goals in their last five games. This makes odds of 19/20 for Both Teams to Score look good, as I severely doubt that Germany won’t get on the scoresheet as well. I’m backing Germany to win with a 3-1 correct score prediction after Ukraine showed their own vulnerabilities at the back in a 4-3 win against Romania.