Portugal vs Ukraine Predictions

Portugal became one of the most unpopular European Championship winners in history back in 2016 as they defended and drew their way to the final before beating hosts France in their own back yard. Now, a few years on, France have taken their revenge with a World Cup win and Portugal are beginning the long quest to defend their continental title.

It begins with a home match against a Ukraine team who will likely be their closest challengers for the top spot in this group. Serbia, Lithuania, and Luxembourg make up the rest of Euro 202 qualifying Group B, so it’s clear that the reigning champions are favourites for the group win.

The big talking point on Friday will be the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been called up for the first time since their World Cup exit last summer. The Juventus attacker is Portugal’s all time leading scorer with 85 goals in 154 appearances, while at the other end of the spectrum young attackers Diogo Jota and Joao Felix are hoping to make their debuts.

Ukraine, led by their legendary striker Andriy Shevchenko, are less well endowed in the attacking department. Artem Kravets is their only striker with any international goals to his name, although Yevhen Konoplyanka does provide a threat from the wings. 20 year old midfielder Mykola Shaparenko is one to watch as well.

The visitors ended up missing out on a World Cup in the neighbouring Russia last summer as they finished behind Croatia and Iceland in their qualifying group. Since then they have only lost one of their 11 matches, although that was a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Slovakia back in November.

Considering they are managed by one of the most lethal finishers in the modern game, Ukraine are remarkably reserved when it comes to attacking. Their caution has resulted in a lot of low scoring affairs, with 14 of their last 20 matches seeing fewer than three goals scored.

Portugal, considering the talents at their disposal, are similarly cautious in attack. They scored just seven goals in normal time in their Euro 2016 success, and each of their three home matches since the World Cup ended have been low scoring affairs. This makes backing Under 2.5 Goals our favourite bet of the day, along with a 1-0 win for the hosts.