MY ACCOUNT
There is the small matter of a place at the 2022 World Cup at stake on Sunday when Wales take on Ukraine at the Cardiff City Stadium at 5pm.
Rob Page’s men overcame Austria 2-1 in the semi-finals to move to within one victory of reaching the tournament in Qatar later this year, while the Blue and Yellow downed Scotland 3-1 on Wednesday to reach the play-off final and they may just have the edge again.
It was 2006 when Ukraine, as an independent nation, last reached the World Cup as they enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals, while Wales are aiming to reach the main draw of the World Cup for the first time since 1958 — when they also made it to the last eight.
Ukraine to break Welsh hearts
Wales continue to punch above their weight and they were impressive when dispatching Austria in the semi-finals, with two-goal hero Gareth Bale the star for his country again.
However, the Real Madrid ace last played a competitive match on April 9 — coming on as a 74th-minute substitute – and there are doubts over his match sharpness heading into the contest.
The Dragons are unbeaten in their last 18 home games, so this should instil confidence throughout the side, but Ukraine overcame the Hampden Park roar to defeat Scotland last time out and they could come out on top again.
Barring a little wobble in the second half, Oleksandr Petrakov’s side were by far the better side against the Scots and the 3-1 victory extended their unbeaten streak to eight matches.
Ukraine haven’t tasted defeat since being thrashed 4-0 by England at the European Championships and they have demonstrated how hard they are to beat throughout World Cup qualifying, as they won two and drew six of their eight games in Group D to finish second behind France.
That may suggest the Blue and Yellow struggle when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net, but they have scored 13 goals in their last eight assignments with five of these coming in the last two contests.
Ukraine are a well-drilled, organised outfit and it would be no surprise to see them get the job done in 90 minutes once again.
Yaremchuk a handful
Ukraine have no injury issues to worry about ahead of the play-off final and that means the same starting eleven that defeated Scotland is likely to take the field in Cardiff.
One player who impressed was striker Roman Yaremchuk, who was a constant aerial threat and scored a brilliant header to put his side 2-0 ahead at Hampden Park.
The 26-year-old has 13 goals from 37 international caps and he will be relishing the chance to go up against a Welsh defence that has kept just one clean sheet from their last six outings.
Feisty affair on the cards
With so much at stake, it would be no surprise at all to see some tackles flying in and this could bring the cards market into play, with over 4.5 not out of the realms of possibility.
There were no less than five yellows shown in Ukraine’s victory over Scotland — a three-two split — while there were four cautions handed out in Wales’ victory against Austria.
