Ukraine vs Luxembourg Predictions

Ukraine continued to move in the right direction on Friday night, as they battered Serbia by five goals to nil. Having delivered a pleasing performance on that occasion, Monday’s hosts will be hoping to secure their second victory of the year against Luxembourg, who’ve won just one of their last six matches.

There was plenty to like about the way Ukraine played against Serbia on Friday evening; they dictated the play from start to finish, got on the front foot, created chances and crucially, scored goals. Having delivered a dominant performance on that occasion, the Ukrainians will be looking to push on, though doing so against Luxembourg may be tougher than one might think.

This will be the second time that Ukraine have faced Luxembourg in Group B. Back in March, they beat Monday’s visitors by two goals to one on the road, though their victory was anything but straightforward. Frankly, on that occasion, Ukraine, who had less shots on target than their hosts, were very fortunate to leave Luxembourg City with all three points, as they posted 1.06 expected goals for and conceded 2.29.

Since that defeat, Luxembourg have got back on the horse so to speak. They played reasonably well to take point back from their trip to Lithuania last time out. On that occasion, they once again showed that they can offer a threat going forward, as they both scored and posted 1.24 expected goals for.

From a defensive point of view, even though they’ve not given a great deal away in terms of chances, Luxembourg have lacked the quality to keep clean sheets, which is why they’ve conceded in each of their three qualifiers so far, but they’ve certainly offered a good amount going forward, as they average 1.77 expected goals for and have scored in each of their three games in Group B.

Both teams did enough to get on the score-sheet when they met in the reverse fixture, and given the current prices, ‘Both Teams to Score’ looks a great bet ahead of this match. The Ukrainians proved their attacking credentials last time out, though Luxembourg, for all they’re not the strongest defensively, should not be underestimated from an attacking point of view. A repeat of any of their forward efforts in qualifying so far would surely be enough for the visitors to cause the hosts some problems, much as they did on home soil.