Ukraine tipped to beat Kazakhstan and maintain unbeaten WCQ record
Kazakhstan vs Ukraine - 01/09/2021
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Kazakhstan and Ukraine clash in this week’s round of European qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup as they meet in Wednesday’s early kick-off at Nur-Sultan's Astana Arena.
Having picked up three straight draws so far, Ukraine find themselves second in Group D – four points behind first-place France.
At the other end of the standings, Kazakhstan sit rock bottom with just a single point to their name. However, they have only played two matches.
The hosts kicked off their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 loss to France, managing only one shot on target against the reigning world champions.
Kazakhstan were then able to seal a 1-1 draw with Ukraine, despite seeing just 29% possession and facing a whopping 28 shots.
Last time out, they suffered a humiliating 4-0 friendly loss to North Macedonia, with Serikzhan Muzhikov seeing red just before half-time.
That defeat to North Macedonia back in June means that Kazakhstan head into Wednesday’s clash on a nine-game winless run.
When you look at the bigger picture, they have only managed to win pick up eight wins in their previous 65 matches in all competitions.
On the flip side, Ukraine kicked off their qualifying campaign with three 1-1 draws – holding France, Finland and Kazakhstan.
Between their previous qualifiers and Euro 2020, they played three friendlies – drawing with Bahrain before beating Northern Ireland and Cyprus.
Despite winning just one of their group games at Euro 2020, Ukraine managed to qualify for the knockout phase.
Yet, after beating Sweden 2-1 in the round of 16, they were thrashed 4-0 by England in the quarter-finals.
Ukraine have only managed to win one of their last nine games in all competitions, but they shouldn’t struggle to overcome lowly Kazakhstan this time around.
Head-to-head: Kazakhstan were able to hold out for a 1-1 draw in Ukraine back in March, despite Ukraine’s obvious dominance.
Ukraine have never lost against Kazakhstan over the years, picking up four wins and one draw since 2004.
Team news: Kazakhstan forward Artur Shushenachev could make his international debut, having been forced to withdraw from the last squad through injury.
As for Ukraine, Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin has been replaced by Dynamo Kiev’s Denys Boyko due to COVID-19. Artem Dovayk will also miss out through injury.
Although Kazakhstan managed to claim a draw in the reverse fixture, there is absolutely no denying that Ukraine deserved to win back in March.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Ukraine will claim all three points this time around. A clean-sheet victory is on the cards for the visitors.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
WCQ
173944
2
0 - 2
2.23
12°
1.50
9.00
4.75
1.50
1
1
1
2 - 2(0 - 1)
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