Wales v Ukraine predictions: Qatar qualification beckons for vibrant visitors

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Wales v Ukraine in the World Cup qualifying playoff on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & ITV, 5pm Sunday

Best bet

Ukraine draw no bet
1pt Evs Betfred

Team news

Wales
Nathan Broadhead has withdrawn with a muscle injury. Kieffer Moore is fit after recovering from a foot injury, while Brennan Johnson and Sorba Thomas are both available.

Ukraine
No fresh injuries were reported after the 3-1 victory over Scotland.

Match preview

Ukraine answered a lot of questions with their superb 3-1 victory in Scotland on Wednesday and they can seal an emotional World Cup qualification by beating Wales at the Cardiff City Stadium.

The challenges put in front of Ukrainian players have been massive and there was uncertainty over how well prepared they would be for the defining week of their qualification campaign.

Ukraine's midweek meeting with Scotland was their first international fixture since November last year and their starting line-up featured six domestic-based players, who hadn't been able to play any competitive football since the start of 2022.

However, they quickly settled into their stride at Hampden Park and played with a level of intensity and quality which their hosts were unable to match.

Emotions were running high after the match but head coach Oleksandr Petrakov has had time to get his players refocused on the equally difficult task of facing Wales.

Home advantage has been worth plenty to the Welsh, who are unbeaten in their last 12 competitive games at the Cardiff City Stadium.

That impressive run includes last November's impressive 1-1 draw with Belgium and the nervy 2-1 playoff semi-final success over Austria, who were downed by a goal in each half from Gareth Bale.

Wales have relied heavily on Bale's brilliance over much of the last decade but have had to be mindful of the player's increasing susceptibility to injuries.

Rob Page's side reached the knockout stages at Euro 2020 without any goalscoring contributions from Bale, and they found alternative sources of goals in their World Cup qualifying group with Aaron Ramsey netting three times and Dan James and Kieffer Moore notching two each.

However, Bale remains the undoubted superstar of the team and his state of fitness, which remains up in the air after several weeks of bench-warming in La Liga, could be a determining factor.

If there is a lack of Bale magic, the onus will be on the Welsh backline to do a better job than Scotland of containing Ukraine's attacking threat.

But Wales's last seven internationals have featured only one clean sheet - a 1-0 victory away to Estonia - and there are question marks over the state of readiness of key central defender Joe Rodon, who failed to make a single Premier League start for Tottenham in the 2021-22 campaign.

Rodon carries a weight of responsibility and if he is below par there is a good chance of the Welsh backline being exposed by Ukraine's front three of Andrei Yarmolenko, Roman Yaremchuk and Viktor Tsygankov, who looked so fluid and dangerous against the Scots.

Ukraine played with the perfect mix of high motivation and calm assurance in Glasgow, and a similar level of performance should be enough to send them to Qatar.

Key stat

Ukraine are unbeaten in nine games in World Cup qualifying

Inside info

Wales

Penalty taker Gareth Bale
Free-kick wizard Gareth Bale
Set-piece aerial threat Joe Rodon
Card magnet Ethan Ampadu

Ukraine

Penalty taker Andrei Yarmolenko/Ruslan Malinovskyi
Free-kick wizard Ruslan Malinovskyi
Set-piece aerial threat Roman Yaremchuk
Card magnet Oleksandr Zinchenko

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