Match Preview: Ukraine U21s vs England U21s: 2019 UEFA European U21 Championships Qualifying Group Four Matchday Five
On Matchday Five of Qualifying for the 2019 European U21 Championship, Aidy Boothroyd’s young England side make the tricky trip to The Ukraine for a Group Four clash, having extended their lead to four points with a victory in Andorra last time out.
Whereas, the hosts come into the tie off the back of a 1-1 home draw with The Netherlands, a point that saw them stay in fourth in the Standings, level on points with the Dutch, making the visitors the favourites.
When?
The encounter is scheduled to take place tomorrow afternoon (Friday 10 November 2017) with a kick-off time of 4 PM GMT, unfortunately, there will be no Television Coverage available in The UK.
Unfortunately, there will also be no live Radio Commentary available from Ukraine, but you can stick with us right here for all of your post-match reaction.
Where?
Kiev’s Obolon Arena will host the fixture, with a capacity of just over 5,000, it is the regular home of Ukraine’s Youth Teams and served as a Training Base during the 2012 European Championship.
The Stadium was built in 2001, opened in 2002 and expanded in 2004, it is also the permanent home of Ukrainian First League outfit FC Obolon-Brovar Kyiv after former tenants FC Obolon Kyiv went bust in 2013.
Team News:
Ukraine Boss Oleksandr Holovko has very few injury worries to speak of as he prepares his Squad for a vital tie on home turf.
The Young Men Xl is expected to include promising starlet and Skipper Pavlo Lukyanchuk, young Valencia defender Ivan Zotko, Standard Liege midfielder Valeriy Luchkevych and prolific Youth striker Stanislav Bilenkyi.
Meanwhile, having seen Joe Gomez, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Tammy Abraham graduate to the England Senior Squad, Aidy Boothroyd has been plagued with injuries this week much like Gareth Southgate.
Defenders Ben Chilwell and Dael Fry and Aston Villa loanee Josh Onomah were first to withdraw from the Squad, with Everton midfielder Tom Davies following them on Wednesday, he was replaced by West Bromwich Albion man Sam Field.
Form:
The U21 sides of Ukraine and England have only met on one occasion in Competition International Football since the Country became independent from The Soviet Union in 1991.
That very meeting came at the 2011 European U21 Championship held in Denmark when the two Nations faced off in The Group Stages, but the outcome was a dull 0-0 draw.
Ukraine U21s:
Made up of Ukraine’s most exciting young talents, some of which have even represented Andriy Shevchenko’s Senior Squad, The Young Men were unlucky to not Qualify for last summer’s Tournament in Poland.
Since gaining independence they have only managed to make it through to one Major Tournament, but have produced such stars as the aforementioned Shevchenko, Serhiy Rebrov and Oleksandr Shovkovskiy in recent years.
England U21s:
A level down from Southgate’s Senior Squad, Three Lions U21 team are widely considered to be one of the best International Youth outfits in the World, based at England’s St George’s Park National Football Centre.
At the recent U21 European Championship in Poland, they were unluckily knocked out on penalties by Germany at the semi-final Stage, past notables to have represented the team include Jack Butland, John Stones, and Harry Kane.
Who Is Officiating?
Experienced UEFA Referee Frank Schneider will take charge of the fierce fixture, with Cyril Mugnier and Djemel Zitouni acting as his Assistants, and Johan Hamel making up the all-French team in the role of Fourth Official.
So, now that all of tomorrow’s action from the Group Four matchup has been well and truly previewed, can Ukraine triumph on hostile home turf to get their campaign back on track?
Or, will Boothroyd’s Young Lions pick up another impressive away scalp to extend their lead at the top and boost their hopes of reaching Italy & San Marino Automatically?