Ukraine vs Spain Betting Tips

For Ukraine to qualify automatically they need to better Slovakia’s result in Luxembourg which seems unlikely but they are guaranteed 3rd spot and are well-placed to finish as the best 3rd place team which would also mean automatic qualification to the finals in France.

Spain booked their trip on Friday night with a comfortable 4-0 win over Luxembourg in the relatively unfamiliar surroundings of Logroño, a town in Northern Spain, only home to 3rd tier football. They have fond memories of the Olympic Stadium in Kiev though having thumped Italy 4-0 there to win the 2012 European Championships and they’ll be going for a record-breaking 3rd straight triumph in this competition next summer.

They are likely to travel to Ukraine without Alvaro Morata and David Silva though after both limped off in the 1st half with injuries on Friday. Paco Alcácer came off the bench to score twice in the game and the Valencia man could start here although he will have to work much harder to sniff out any chances against a solid home defence, which has only conceded 6 goals in their 18 home games since Euro 2012.

Nolito and Juan Mata will also be pushing for a start for Spain having featured from the bench on Friday and Vicente del Bosque may use the game to experiment a little now qualification is in the bag.

Ukraine are a strong side though and have only lost 3 times in their last 28 matches. Their last defeat was in Seville in March when they were unfortunate to lose 1-0 to Spain in the reverse fixture and forced Iker Casillas into several impressive stops.

On home soil and with potential qualification at stake they’ll be determined to seek revenge and have enough quality to take advantage of what hasn’t been a completely fluent Spanish side over the past year or two. At 5/6 you can back the hosts to win, with your money back if it ends in a draw.

Both sides have an identical record of just 3 goals conceded in 9 Group matches so it is hard to see there being many goals in this one. 1 goal either way could settle it and a 1-0 home win looks good value at 6/1.