Ukraine vs. France Preview

Tournament co-hosts Ukraine entertain France in Friday’s early evening kick off in Donetsk. Oleh Bolkhin’s side go in to the game on top of Group D, having beaten Sweden in their opening match on Monday evening.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic had given the Swedes the lead shortly after the break, but two goals in seven minutes from Ukraine’s all-time top scorer Andriy Shevchenko turned the game on its head. They do however go in to this game as outsiders, with bookmakers offering as high as 4.0 (3/1) for the co-hosts to make it two wins from two. France are 2.10 (11/10) for the win, while you can get the draw at 3.25 (9/4).

France remain as favourites to progress from Group D, despite being held to a 1-1 draw with England in their opening game. Samir Nasri’s strike cancelled out Joeleon Lescott’s opener to give his country a share of the spoils at the Donbass Arena.

Karim Benzema is set to once again lead the line for the French, and the Real Madrid man is 6.5 (11/2) to get the first goal.

The two sides last met in a friendly in Donetsk twelve months ago, with France running out 4-1 winners.

Ukraine’s all time record appearance holder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk giving his side the lead, before goals from Kevin Gameiro, Younes Kaboul and a double from Marvin Martin secured victory for the French. However, with Ukraine buoyed by home support, and their opening game victory, a repeat of that score line looks highly unlikely.

You might be tempted to back the draw, with Andriy Shevchenko adding to his goals tally in the process. William Hill offer 5.5 (9/2) for this outcome, whilst Ukraine’s record goal scorer is 8.5 (15/2) to score the last goal of the game.

You might also be interested in backing the Dynamo Kiev striker to finish the tournament as top scorer, with 23.0 (22/1) being the best price on offer.