The Czech Republic and Ukraine play their first game of the Uefa Nations League on Thursday-evening in the small Czech town of Uherske Hradiste. Which of these two European middle engines will start his campaign the best?
Czech Republic:
At the European Championships in France the Czechs went out in the group stage and for the World Cup in Russia they could not qualify. A sign on the wall that it is meager years. A new campaign offers new opportunities again. They are divided into a group in League B with Ukraine and Slovakia. The League B can be seen as the European middle class. The best in this middle class can earn a ticket for the European Championship 2020. Despite the fact that the road is still long, this can be a nice motivation.
The friendly matches that were played in the run-up to the world championship were successful. There was no chance of losing the Australians (4-0), but against Nigeria a nice 1-0 victory was achieved. For the Czechs, these races had no meaning or purpose, so the results may be taken with a grain of salt. In the current selection few big names can be found. Only attacker Patrik Schick plays at a European top club, Roma. Despite the fact that he performed randomly last season, most of him is expected in this national team. The most experienced player is Gebre Selassie from Werder Bremen with 47 caps. A lot of international experience is therefore not present in the selection of the Czechs.
Ukraine:
At the European Championships in France 0 points were achieved and not scored, for the World Cup in Russia they did not qualify. A meager harvest may be the conclusion. In 2018 it was not yet lost. Despite not being played against top teams, a 2-1 victory against Japan and a 0-0 against Morocco are deserving results.
The current selection of Ukrainians does contain the necessary talent. Yarmolenko and Konoplyanka are well-known names for people who have followed European football in recent years. Two players who can decide the match with an action. The former is currently playing in the Premier League at West Ham United, the other at Schalke 04. Besides these two players there is also the young talent of Manchester City, Zinchenko. Last year he did regular playing time in the Guardiola team and a bright future awaits him. Midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi, active at Genk, has started the season very strongly and it seems that his career has gained momentum. The task of forging a close team of these players is in the hands of ex-top striker Andrey Shevchenko.
PREDICTION: Under 2.5 goals @ 1.58
