England v Ukraine preview: Will England continue perfect Group C run?

England will continue their Euro 2024 qualification campaign with an important game against Ukraine on Saturday.

We are only halfway through the process but Gareth Southgate’s side are already on the verge of booking their spot in Germany.

If we can assume that England will beat Malta at home in November, they probably only need one other victory to secure a spot at the European Championship. Three points on Saturday, then, would leave England in a very strong position indeed.

England kicked off the campaign with a battling 2-1 triumph over Italy in Naples. That was the toughest fixture they will have to fulfil on the road to the Euros and their win on that occasion set the tone for what lay ahead.

Indeed, England have been thoroughly professionally throughout, thrashing Malta (4-0) and North Macedonia (7-0), but also registering a comfortable 2-0 victory over Ukraine at Wembley.

This will be a more difficult assignment, even though Serhiy Rebrov’s side are forced to play their home games in Poland due to the war back home. That is clearly not ideal but this Ukraine team is good enough to be competitive at any location.

That is why England’s squad for this international window can be termed safety-first. Southgate was criticised for including the likes of Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips, neither of whom has played much football at club level at the beginning of the campaign. Jordan Henderson’s selection also raised eyebrows following his move to Saudi Arabia.

But those three players are trusted by Southgate and their experience and knowledge of his system is why they have been relied upon for what has the potential to be a banana skin of a qualifier.

Southgate’s priorirty on Saturday will be a clean sheet. Given the attacking quality at his disposal - Jude Bellingham has been in unbelievable form for Real Madrid, Harry Kane is scoring goals for Bayern Munich and Bukayo Saka is always a threat - a defensive shut-out would surely see England victorious.

Southgate’s team have only conceded one goal up to now - and that was in their first game against Italy. Three consecutive clean sheets have provided the foundation for England’s dominance of Group C. The attack has dazzled with a continent-high return of 15 goals, but that has not come at the expense of defensive solidity.

Ukraine’s star attacker, Mykhailo Mudryk, has had a difficult year at Chelsea, so he may not pose as much of a threat as he might have done when his confidence was high. That is another boost for England, who can beat Rebrov’s men without conceding in Poland this weekend.

Recommended bet

England to win to nil at 2.2