Ukraine vs Northern Ireland: EURO 2016 Group C Preview & Prediction

Northern Ireland face Ukraine in Lyon on Thursday evening in a meeting of two nations whose Euro 2016 campaigns got off to losing starts in Group C.

Michael O’Neill’s men defended superbly against a Poland side that had 18 shots, but failed to create much up the opposite end as they were eventually beaten 1-0 in Nice, and they will be looking for an improved attacking performance at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.

Meanwhile, Mykhailo Fomenko’s side were unfortunate not to come away with more after succumbing 2-0 to world champions Germany on Sunday, with opposition defender Jerome Boateng forced to clear acrobatically off the line and Joachim Low’s side having to defend a total of 12 corners.

Realistically, both teams must avoid defeat to be in with a chance of qualifying, and Northern Ireland especially will see this encounter as must-win fixture if they are to have any chance of advancing to the last 16, especially with Germany to come in their last match.

Ukraine certainly hold the advantage in terms of the head-to-head record between the two nations – they are undefeated in all four previous matches against Northern Ireland, however there has been no meeting since September 2003, when they played out a 0-0 draw in Donetsk.

Thursday’s match in Lyon is just Northern Ireland’s second game at a European Championship and at times it showed against Poland, while Ukraine are also still relatively inexperienced, with this being only their fifth match in the same competition, having qualified, and then been knocked out at the group stage, when they were hosts four years ago.

Northern Ireland will once again look to Kyle Lafferty for goals after he scored seven goals in 10 matches in qualifying, while Ukraine needs their star men, such as Yevhen Konoplyanka and Andriy Yarmolenko, to have their shoot boots on.

Kyle Lafferty scored seven goals in qualifying for Northern Ireland. Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Team News: 

Ukraine didn’t have any injury concerns prior to their opener against Germany and they look to have come through that fixture unscathed, meaning they are likely to stick with their trusted 4-2-3-1 formation.

Michael O’Neill will be pleased after Kyle Lafferty, who scored seven goals in Northern Ireland’s qualifying campaign, came through 90 minutes against Poland. The striker had sustained a groin injury during training, but looks to be back to full fitness.

But there could be changes, with Stuart Dallas, Jamie Ward and Conor Washington all pushing for starts in what is likely to be a more attacking set-up.

FIFA World Ranking: Ukraine – 19th; Northern Ireland – 25th
Best European Championship Finish: Ukraine – Group Stage (2012); Northern Ireland – First tournament
Previous Meeting: Ukraine 0-0 Northern Ireland (September 6, 2003 – Euro 2004 Qualifying)
Form: Ukraine – WWWDWL; Northern Ireland – WDWWDL
Key Men: Ukraine – Taras Stepanenko; Northern Ireland – Kyle Lafferty
Shoot Says: Ukraine 2-0 Northern Ireland