Slovakia vs Ukraine Euro 2024 prediction, tips, preview

Starting things on Friday, there’s Group E action. After pulling off the shock of the tournament so far, the Slovaks will be looking to book their place in the next round by beating a Ukrainian team that failed to live up to its billing during the first round of games.

Can Serhiy Rebrov’s men bounce back or will they once again flatter to deceive? Read on for our Slovakia vs Ukraine predictions.

Slovakia vs Ukraine prediction

For the Slovakia vs Ukraine match prediction, we believe the final score will be a 3-2 win for Ukraine based on our analysis.

The Slovaks did pull off a fantastic win against the Belgians, but let’s be honest, they rode their luck and gave quite a bit away, while the Ukrainians have the players to improve on that first effort and do plenty of damage, which could see them through here.

Ukraine to Score Over 1.5 Goals @ 5/4 with bet365
Over 3.0 Asian Goals @ 11/5 with bet365
Artem Dovbyk to Score @ 21/10 with bet365

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Slovakia vs Ukraine betting odds

Bet	Odds
Slovakia to win	14/5
Ukraine to win	7/6
Draw	12/5

Slovakia vs Ukraine head-to-head statistics

These two teams have not faced off since 2018, when Slovakia won by four goals to one in the UEFA Nations League. Prior to that, Ukraine won back-to-back games against the Slovaks, in 2018 and 2017, winning 1-0 and 2-1.

Slovakia vs Ukraine preview

This game is due to take place on 21/06/2024 at Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. Kick off will be at 14:00 GMT.

Few people expected Slovakia to get the job done against Belgium, as pre-match odds of 6/1 showed.

However, despite being seen as big outsiders in the betting, the Slovaks stunned the Belgians with an early goal, before delivering a dogged effort to grind out what was considered by most to be an unlikely win.

Of course, luck played a role in that victory, as the Belgians had two goals ruled out thanks to the intervention of VAR, while the Red Devils missed a few big chances, but credit where credit is due, the Slovaks could’ve bottled it and they absolutely did not.

That massive win in their opening Euro 2024 game should give Francesco Calzona’s men the confidence to have a real go of making it two wins from two games.

While the Slovaks exceeded expectations, the Ukrainians struggled to meet expectations in their first game. Moreover, they performed far worse than many people (including myself) expected.

Offensively, they were sloppy and far from clinical both in terms of their final pass and final shot. Fortunately, manager Rebrov has depth and can make changes, which he almost certainly will.

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For this second game, don't be surprised if Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk drops to the bench, while the likes of Andriy Yarmolenko and Ruslan Malinovskiy, both of whom add creativity, come in from the start.

Slovakia vs Ukraine Betting tips

Three bets stand out from a value point of view (at early odds) ahead of this Group E clash.

Ukraine to Score Over 1.5 Goals

I’ve been quite critical of Ukraine’s first performance above and I stick by that, though they’ve got the tools to shake things up and do much, much better.

To be honest, with just one or two changes, they could hurt a Slovakian team that looked quite open, despite beating Belgium.

Yes, the Slovaks kept a clean sheet, but on another day, or with someone other than the constantly clumsy Romelu Lukaku up top, they could’ve easily conceded three, four or five goals.

In recent times, we’ve seen this Ukrainian team notch multiple goals against sides not dissimilar to Slovakia, scoring two (or more) against North Macedonia (twice) Bosnia and Iceland since late 2023.

Over 3.0 Asian Goals

There’s absolutely no reason for both teams not to really fancy themselves offensively in this game. Both have shown quite clear defensive weaknesses, so we really should see two teams looking to take advantage in the final third.

The catalyst here really is that both teams gave lots away in that first game, so much so that early odds of 11/5 with bet365 look worth taking.

This Ukrainian side is also not unfamiliar with high-scoring games, not only did they concede three against Romania, but each of their last three games on foreign soil have contained three or more goals, with two of those three containing four.

Moreover, since drawing 3-3 away in Germany back in early 2023, they’ve played games outside of their home land containing at least four goals on five occasions.

Artem Dovbyk to Score

By the lofty standards that he’s set over the last year or so, Artem Dovbyk had a very quiet game against Romania, but that wasn’t totally his own doing.

The forward was somewhat starved of service, at least decent service, but that could change here.

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Fans of the Premier League know what Yarmolenko can bring in terms of crossing from wide areas and generally creating chances, while the aforementioned Malinovskiy has a mean left foot too, so his delivery could help Ukraine’s preferred striking option to have a more enjoyable time.

After all, Dovbyk is a man who scored 24 goals in LaLiga last season and for someone other than Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico, so he should not be dismissed so quickly.

Given his goal-scoring record in recent times, with him notching an average of 0.83 goals per 90 minutes in the Spanish top flight last season, he looks a little generously priced to score against a Slovakian team that isn’t the strongest.