England v Ukraine predictions: Free-scoring Three Lions can kick on after triumph in Naples

Where to watch England v Ukraine

Channel 4, 5pm Sunday

Best bet

England to win & over 2.5 goals
2pts 10-11 bet365, BoyleSports

England v Ukraine odds

England 1-4
Ukraine 12-1
Draw 5-1

Odds correct at time of publishing

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England v Ukraine team news

England
Luke Shaw is suspended after his red card in Naples so Ben Chilwell should start at left-back. Reece James has pulled out of the squad due to injury and Jude Bellingham is a doubt so Jordan Henderson could come into midfield.

Ukraine
Defender Ilya Zabarnyi and midfielder Oleksandr Zubkov are injured. Experienced winger Andriy Yarmolenko is recovering from a hamstring problem so may start on the bench.

England v Ukraine predictions

England cleared the most daunting obstacle on their path to Euro 2024 by beating European champions Italy 2-1 in Naples on Thursday and they are just 1-4 to see off Ukraine at Wembley in their second Group C fixture.

The Three Lions have a formidable home record in qualifying, winning nine out of nine and scoring 37 goals in their Euro 2016 and Euro 2020 qualifiers on their own patch.

They dropped points in a 1-1 draw with Hungary in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup but won their other four games against San Marino, Poland, Andorra and Albania, with all four victories featuring over 2.5 goals.

Harry Kane hogged the headlines on Thursday after breaking Wayne Rooney's England goalscoring record and helping the Three Lions to their first away win over Italy since 1961.

Before the opening fixtures England had been narrow favourites to win the group, ahead of Italy, so they struck a significant early blow with their victory in Naples.

Bet365 slashed Southgate's men from 25-1 to 6-1 to win all eight of their qualifying matches and England will be a short price to take maximum points from June's fixtures away to Malta and at home to North Macedonia.

Ukraine, clear third-favourites in the ante-post Group C betting, should provide more of a contest for England, who established a 2-0 lead after an impressive first-half display against Italy but struggled to close out the game.

Harry Maguire, who has made just five Premier League starts for Manchester United this season, was at fault for Italy's goal in the 56th minute and his Red Devils teammate Luke Shaw was sent off with ten minutes remaining.

England's wealth of attacking options mean they should trouble a Ukraine defence who lost 3-0 to Scotland on their last visit to the Britain in September's Nations League fixture.

Three months earlier, shortly after the Russian invasion, Ukraine had beaten Scotland 3-1 at Hampden Park in an emotional World Cup playoff semi-final before losing 1-0 to a deflected Gareth Bale free-kick against Wales in the final.

They won their other two away games in the 2022-23 Nations League, beating Ireland 1-0 and Armenia 5-0, and have some high-class operators in midfield and attack including Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko, Marseille's Ruslan Malinovskyi, big-money Chelsea signing Mykhailo Mudryk and strikers Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk.

However, England thumped Iran 6-2, Wales 3-0 and Senegal 3-0 at the World Cup. They were unfortunate to go down 2-1 to France in a quarter-final in which they had 16 shots, including a Kane penalty miss, to Les Bleus' eight and a home win with over 2.5 goals looks a solid bet at Wembley.

Key stat

England's nine home games in Euro 2020 and 2022 World Cup qualifying produced 43 goals

Probable teams

England (4-3-3):  Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Chilwell; Henderson, Phillips, Rice; Saka, Kane, Foden 

Ukraine (4-3-3): Lunin; Konoplya, Popov, Matvienko, Mykolenko; Malinovskyi, Stepanenko, Zinchenko; Tsygankov, Yaremchuk, Mudryk 

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