Malta and Ukraine Preview
The Match Malta vs Ukraine Preview is Online, as they lock horns on the home ground of Ukraine in qualifying Group C at on June 19, 2023.
Sergiv Rebrov’s side was able to return to the winning ways after the victory against Lynxes with 3-2 on Friday meetings. On the other hand, Michele Marcolini’s side were put to a defeat by England with 4-0 on their home ground, Friday meetings.
On the Friendly match with Germany, Ukraine had tied the match with 3-3, taking a sportive lesson from six goal thriller match, and took a comeback during with the showdown against North Macedonia. England had the victory over Malta in the Euro 2024 qualifiers round with 4-0 on friday meetings.
The Blue and Yellow entered half time with their heads dropped after conceding to Enis Bardhi and Elis Elmas but after half time Rebrov’s time to invoke with Ukrainine bellies as Viktor Tsygankov, Ilya Zabarnyi and Yukhym Konoplya completed a terrific turnaround.
By Putting a first win on the board in Group C at the second attempt, having kicked off their qualification campaign with a loss against England, Ukraine have suddenly surged to second place in the standings, although reigning champions Italy are also sitting on three points at this stage.
Such a ranking would send Ukraine through to their fourth successive Euros finals as they Endeavour to match or better their run to the quarter finals two years ago, but shoring up the rearguard must be priority number one for Rebrov if his nation are to keep Italy. The Blue and yellow have now eight goals in their last three affairs.
However, the hosts have a six-game unbeaten run on home soil to protect – although five of those contests have ended level – and they have five wins to show from their last five Euro qualifying games on their own patch and will be firm favourites to prolong Maltese misery on Monday.
Team news and Injury
Ukraine lost midfielder Oleksandr Pikhalyonok and defender Valeriy Bondar to injury prior to their win over North Macedonia, but the duo only have nine caps between them, and Rebrov’s team came through Friday’s success.
The hosting manager’s decision to bring Konoplya off the bench at half time paid dividends, and the right-back could now be a straight swap for Oleksandr Tymchyk in the rearguard.
Despite failing to make his mark at Chelsea so far, Mykhaylo Mudryk assisted Ukraine’s final two goals on Friday and will now aim to break his own duck at the 12th attempt before jetting off to the Under-21 European Championships.
Marcolini has nothing report from their thumping at the hands of England, where Union SG lynchpin Teddy Teuma was passed fit to start after a previous injury scare.
However, Matthew Guillaumier – who gave away the game’s first penalty – was taken off at half time and may be fearing for his place in the engine room, as Jake Grech and Nicky Muscat put their hands up for starts.
The latter’s namesake Zach Muscat came up with the only goal when Malta defeated Ukraine six years ago, and the Farense defender is a starter at the back.
Head-to-Head stats
This will be the second-ever meeting between Ukraine and Malta, with the Blue and Yellow claiming a 1-0 victory in their first encounter back in June 2017. Malta have lost four of their last five matches across all competitions, with last Friday’s 1-0 friendly victory over Luxembourg being the exception.
Sergiv Rebrov’s men are unbeaten in five of their last six outings since September 2022, picking up three wins and two draws in that time. Malta have managed just one win in their last seven competitive away matches, losing five and claiming two draws since March 2021.
Ukraine vs malta prediction
By their impressive comeback against North Macedonia, Ukraine will head to Monday’s meetings with a new confidence as they look to strengthen their qualification hope. The Blue and Yellow take Malta side as they are below in the latest FIFA world Rankings and they shall pick up three points.
