The “Three Lions” opened their Euro 2024 qualification tournament in Rome, where they managed to snatch a victory from the reigning European champions in two completely different halves. Declan Rice’s early goal and, perhaps even more so, the result overshadowed Harry Kane’s penalty in the 44th minute, which put him at the top of England’s all-time top scorer charts, surpassing the legendary Wayne Rooney. In the difficult second half, the Italians halved the deficit, and later the dismissal of defender Luke Shaw gave coach Gareth Southgate a headache ahead of this clash. Southgate’s team has a clear advantage in matches against Ukraine, and in the previous Euro 2020 qualification, the team scored an average of 5.25 goals per game at home and won four successful home matches in a row.
The Ukrainians were the only team in their group in the last Euro to avoid defeat in all their away games in the previous cycle, including both matches against Serbia and Portugal. Success in this tournament will help the team qualify for the main football tournament on the continent for the fourth time in a row, but it will not be easy. The trip to Wembley will be Ukraine’s only official game during this break, apart from their victory over Brentford (2-0) a few days ago. In addition, this match is the first one after the draw with Scotland, which left the “yellow-blues” in second place in the group. More 90% accurate football predictions can be obtained from the link provided.
