Czech Republic to top Ukraine
The Czech Republic will meet Ukraine on Friday night in the Czech town of Uherske Hradiste. The two clubs are in Group 1 of Nations League B. The two are joined by Slovakia in the group. Nations League B contains 12 teams in all with the nations split into four groups of three. The team which tops each group will be promoted to Nations League A while the bottom teams will be relegated to Group C.
Ukraine and the Czech Republic have played just twice. Both fixtures were friendlies with the Czech Republic winning the first encounter in 2011. The second match ended in a draw in 2012. The UEFA Nations League will mark the first time the two nations have met in a competitive match.
The Czech Republic may have not appeared at the World Cup in Russia, but they have played well recently. Karel Jarolim’s team has won eight of its last nine home matches. That stat could be increased to nine out of 10 as the fixture will be played at an 8,000-capacity stadium. The intimate feel will help Jarolim’s side rather than a much larger venue.
Former Ukraine national team hero Andriy Schevchenko will hope his side’s Nations League campaign is more successful than World Cup qualification. Schevchenko was unable to lead Ukraine to Russia, which marked the third straight World Cup they missed out on.
Roma’s Patrik Schick has been identified as the Czech Republic’s most exciting player headed into the UEFA Nations League. Although he has only been capped nine times, the striker has tallied two goals. Werder Bremen full-back Theodor Gabre Selassie is the team’s most capped player going into the tournament. The 31-year-old has received 47 caps as a national team member.
The Czech Republic have seen mixed results in 2018 with two wins and two losses. Their two losses did come against teams which qualified for the World Cup (Uruguay and Australia). The Czech Republic’s wins were against China and World Cup team Nigeria.
Ukraine will call upon a number of players from the country’s two biggest teams, Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk. The team will be without striker Artem Besyedin, who is out with an injury. Due to the injury, Schevchenko will have limited options at striker which could play into the hands of the Czech Republic.
Matchday 1 for the Czech Republic and Ukraine will end in a win for the Czechs. Jarolim’s team will get off to a flying start at home and continue a decent run of form that started pre-World Cup.
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