Tonight sees the end of round eight of the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers take place, with seven games happening across three groups and we’ve picked out three things for you to look out for.
The standout games are both happening in Group C, where England host Italy and Malta take on Ukraine. With England, Ukraine and Italy all within three points of each other, the results of these games could go a long way in determining who goes on to qualify and who fails to do so.
England favourites to qualify
England have had a fantastic qualification campaign so far with them winning four and drawing one, conceding just twice in the process. Thanks to this, a win tonight is all the Three Lions need to ensure they finish in the top two spots and therefore qualify for EURO 2024.
With England’s impressive home form which has seen them win their last 12 EURO qualifiers in a home venue, we expect that England will continue this run and secure qualification in their game tonight. You can get odds of England to win against Italy of 1.68 with Bet9ja.
Ukraine to push Italy all the way?
Ukraine have just two games left as their hopes of qualifying hang in the balance, and a win tonight against the groups worst performing side Malta is vital in keeping these hopes alive.
While Italy currently have the same points as Ukraine, they do have a game in hand and a better head-to-head record thanks to a 2-1 win in September. However, no matter Italy’s results in their next two games, a win for Ukraine tonight would give them a chance to qualify in a multitude of ways. This because even if Ukraine end up three points behind Italy going into the final game, which sees them face one another, due to the tiebreak being sorted by head-to-head results a win of more than a one goal margin would see Ukraine progress through over Italy.
This is what Ukraine will be hoping they can achieve come the end of the qualifying stage, and so will be looking for a strong performance against Malta. You can get odds of Ukraine to be victorious tonight of 1.19.
Finland and Kazakhstan hanging onto hope
Finland and Kazakhstan go into tonight’s game against each other hanging onto a shred of hope of qualification. With Slovenia and Denmark sitting four points above the both of them, a loss for either side at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, and wins for both Slovenia and Denmark, would end their hopes of qualifying through the group.
Even if they are to stay in contention after tonight, their only hope of finishing in the top two comes from the fact that at least one of Denmark and Slovenia will drop points when they meet next month, but even then its still a slim chance.
However, both sides may have some comfort in the fact that they have the Nations League play-offs to qualify through if they are unable to do so through Group H.
England win, Ukraine win & Finland win booking code: 5KCKFGC
