Finland vs Ukraine

Finland and Ukraine go head-to-head at the Olympiastadion in a World Cup qualification Group D second-place six-pointer.

Level on points with second-placed Ukraine, Finland could leapfrog their visitors in a coveted second place with a victory here, though they may not rue a potential failure as they have a game in hand. The hosts have gone winless in all three historical World Cup qualifying H2Hs (D1, L2), scoring under 1.5 goals on each occasion. Therefore, they must be glad this fixture takes place in Helsinki, where they are unbeaten in their last four competitive matches (W3, D1), keeping a clean sheet three times in the process. While their defensive showings give the home fans every reason for optimism, Finland’s goalscoring woes are demanding immediate improvement. Markku Kanerva’s men have scored just five goals across their last ten international matches, something that could throw a spanner in the works in this pivotal showdown.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s utterly weird World Cup qualifying campaign so far has seen them draw all five Group D fixtures, four of which have yielded the same 1-1 scoreline. While they can take confidence from holding reigning world champions France to a pair of draws, a brace of stalemates with minnows Kazakhstan cannot encourage the traveling supporters. Ukraine’s inability to hold onto their lead has highlighted their Group D campaign, with Oleksandr Petrakov’s side squandering a deadlock-breaker in four of their five World Cup qualifiers. Worryingly, the Ukrainians have gone winless in their last nine internationals on foreign soil (D4, L5) since a 3-0 away win over Lithuania in the UEFA Nations League in September 2019, excluding their Euro 2020 participation. Ukraine’s defensive frailties have seen them concede 2+ goals in seven of those nine matches.

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