Ukraine vs. Germany – prediction & team news
Germany’s search for their first victory of their 2020-21 UEFA Nations League campaign will continue on Saturday night when they head to Kiev to take on Ukraine.
Ukraine made the perfect start to their 2020-21 UEFA Nations League campaign, recording a 2-1 victory over Switzerland on September 3, which would have left them in a confident mood ahead of a trip to Spain. They have suffered two heavy defeats – a 4-0 loss to Spain last month in the Nations League, which was followed by a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of France in a friendly earlier this week.
Germany, on the other hand, were held to 1-1 draws by both Spain and Switzerland in their first two fixtures of the competition last month. They started their 2020-21 UEFA Nations League campaign with successive 1-1 draws against Spain and Switzerland, meaning that there is a degree of pressure on the visitors on Saturday night.
Ukraine and Germany are second and third, respectively, in Group A4 standings currently. And ahead of their meeting on Saturday, The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both the teams.
Reason for Ukraine vs Germany predictions:
- Ukraine scored at least once in each of their last 10 home matches.
- Germany kept just two clean sheets in their last seven games.
- Ukraine lost a number of players to COVID-led withdrawals this week.
- There has been just one game where no goals have been scored between the two countries. The Germans have kept three clean sheets in total against Ukraine.
- Germany are currently on an eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W4 D4). They are without a victory in their last three matches.
- After a run of 12 games without a defeat, Ukraine have lost their last two fixtures.
The last meeting between the two nations came in June 2016, in the UEFA Euro 2016. Germany prevailed 2-0.
The Yellow and Blues actually finished ahead of Portugal in their Euro 2020 qualifying section, remaining unbeaten across eight matches, collecting an impressive 20 points in the process.
After brilliant performances in EURO 2020 qualifiers and securing a spot on the big scene, Andriy Shevchenko’s team declined heavily. Things were not looking good even in 2-1 home win against Switzerland in UEFA Nations League, which was completely undeserved.
Ukraine will again be far from at full strength, even if they manage to recover a couple of players in time for the contest. Germany, on the other hand, are taking a strong squad to Kiev.
With those factors aligned, we think it’s worth backing Germany to win and both teams to score this weekend against their COVID-hit opponents.
Our prediction: Germany (Full Time Result) @ 1.29
