Northern Ireland vs Ukraine: Team News, Possible Line ups, Betting Odds From Euro 2016

Date: Thursday, 16th June, 2016
Time: 17.00pm BST
Venue: Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon
The only second group stage fixture that will feature two teams whom both lost their opening game sees Northern Ireland and Ukraine clash in Lyon on Thursday.
Ukraine saw their goal pummelled by World Champions Germany but only going down 2-0 in a stoppage time counter-attack.
Making their European Championship debut, Northern Ireland offered very little threat in their 1-0 defeat to Poland but they did keep Robert Lewandowski quiet to give their defence some confidence ahead of their second game.
Neither of these sides are expected to make much of an impact in this group and either will do well to qualify as a third place team.  Qualifying was a proud enough achievement for little Northern Ireland whilst Ukraine’s squad doesn’t look much stronger, however the bookmakers fancy a Ukraine win here.
Yevhen Konoplyanka saw an effort cleared off the line by Jerome Boateng although it looked like his close-range effort may have been a cross or mishit.  Manuel Neuer was forced into a couple of smart saves also.
Aside from the Sevilla man, Andriy Yarmolenko is another attacking talent for the Ukraine side that generally lacks many stars – 18 of them playing domestically.  Striker Roman Zozulya didn’t offer much in attack and has a poor record at international level also.
Northern Ireland didn’t force a single save out of Wojciech Szczesny in their first game.  All they offered was a clever free kick that Steven Davis failed to connect with and a heavy first touch from Conor Washington preventing the Queens Park Rangers striker getting a one-on-one.
Michael O’Neill switched from four at the back to three and wingbacks at half-time in their opener and they weren’t camped in their own half as often for the second 45 minutes.  Expect similar in their second game as they need to win to have a prayer of making it through to the second round.
Whilst most of the Northern Ireland squad is based in the English league system, most are with clubs below the Premier League.  They rely on striker Kyle Lafferty for goals as well as set pieces.  Germany’s opening goal versus Ukraine did come from an indirect free kick.

Ukraine v Northern Ireland Odds

Ukraine vs Northern Ireland: Team News

Ukraine Team News
Mykhaylo Fomenko has his full squad to pick from.  Yevhen Konoplyanka was the only player to pick up a yellow card in their group opener.
Northern Ireland Team News
Craig Cathcart should be good to start a second game in a week.  The defender was the only player to pick up a yellow card versus Poland.  It will be interesting to see if Michael O’Neill will go with the defensive side that started the first game or continue with Stuart Dallas ahead of Paddy McNair as they did in the second half; more adventurous.

Possible Starting Lineups

Ukraine predicted XI: Andriy Pyatov; Artem Fedetskyi, Yevhen Khacheridi, Yaroslav Rakitskiy, Vyacheslav Shevchuk; Serhiy Sydorchuk, Taras Stepanenko, Andriy Yarmolenko, Viktor Kovalenko, Yevhen Konoplyanka; Roman Zozulya
Northern predicted XI: Michael McGovern; Jonny Evans, Gareth McAuley, Craig Cathcart; Conor McLaughlin, Steven Davis, Chris Baird, Oliver Norwood, Stuart Dallas; Kyle Lafferty, Conor Washington

Key Stats

1 – Northern Ireland’s defeat was Poland’s first-ever win at a European Championship in seven attempts.
6 – Northern Ireland have failed to win their last six matches at major tournaments (D2 L4).
112 – Toni Kroos completed 112 passes versus Ukraine in their opening game – five more than Ukraine’s top three passers combined.
Prediction: Ukraine 1-0 Northern Ireland