TFT Issue 61!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Denmark U21 vs Ukraine U21 – both sides to score at 4/5.
Today’s featured game is the international U21 friendly between Denmark and Ukraine as both sides continue their preparations for the forthcoming UEFA European U21 Championships in June so this game is of importance to both sides.
Denmark U21 coach Bordinggard welcomes back Brondby defender Daniel Wass after his cameo role in their senior team’s 1-1 draw in Norway at weekend and he’ll be thankful to have him back following the calamitous defending that Denmark U21 displayed against England U21 during their 0-4 embarassment a few days ago. However, he’ll have been disappointed to hear that Denmark senior boss Morten Olsen has kept hold of Mathias Jorgensen following Kjaer’s injury so Denmark U21’s defensive woes are far from over, in my view. Instead, Bordinggard has called up Jueslgard at full-back following the departures of Hamalainen and Drachmann. Denmark U21 lacked a creative spark against England U21 in their home game although I’d make the point quite clear that England U21 are a lot better than Denmark U21 so I won’t be too harsh on the hosts, who were severely punished for their defensive errors. Denmark U21 aren’t a particularly potent side, especially with playmaker Eriksen now rapidly becoming a regular for Denmark’s senior team. The news that striker Fredriksen has flu and will miss this game doesn’t help their cause much either. However, they have the motivation to play well as they’re on home turf and they need to prove their worth after the result against England U21 last match so I think they’ll give Ukraine U21 a good game here, especially if Bille and Jensen show up.
Ukraine U21 bring the same squad to Denmark as they did for their home game with Iceland U21 with the exception of Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk midfielder Linnet, who is injured. Ukraine U21 were largely comfortable against Iceland U21, as expected, but began to bottle it towards the end of the game and very nearly threw the win away due to a lack of composure. The 3-2 scoreline doesn’t reflect the superiority of Ukraine U21 in that game whatsoever as they wasted numerous chances despite scoring three times in the game with Iceland U21 only really threatening from set pieces and counter-attacks. The addition of attacking group Konoplyanka, Kravets, Yarmolenko, Stepanenko, and Rakitskiy has clearly increased the potency of Ukraine U21, not to mention their creativity. Most importantly of all, however, is how it signals the importance of their two friendlies as they’ve pulled those five from the senior team set to face Italy soon so that they can prepare for the forthcoming championships. Ukraine U21 have beaten good sides to get to the Championships and they were strong against Iceland U21 so I fancy them to do well here, scoring at the very least one goal and potentially winning the game. Let’s face it – those five players I’ve just mentioned are too good to be playing at this level and it should show in this game just as much as it did against Iceland U21 last match.
I can’t deny that the price on Ukraine U21 winning this game at 9/5 appeals to me; all that puts me off is the capitulation that Ukraine U21 demonstrated last match despite a comfortable lead and the fact that Denmark U21 are at home so I’ll give the away win a miss here. Instead, my attention goes on the defensive vulnerability of both sides in this game with both sides lacking composure at the back. Therefore, my call is for both sides to score in this game at decent odds of 4/5.
Team news – Denmark U21 miss Fredriksen whereas Ukraine U21 miss Linnet.
Denmark U21 squad:
Lossl, Andersen, Randrup, Bjelland, Wass, Svatchenko, Sorensen, Vestergaard, Juelsgard, Nielsen, Fenger, Lumb, Povlsen, Albaek, Jensen, Christiansen, Bille, N.Jorgensen, Mortensen.
Ukraine U21 squad
Denys Boiko, Dmytro Nepogodov, Anton Kanibolotskiy, Bogdan Butko, Sergiy Kryvtsov, Artem Putivtsev, Vasyl Priyma, Yevhen Selin, Oleksiy Kurilov, Maksym Biliy, Vitaliy Vitsenets, Denis Garmash, Oleg Golodiuk, Yegor Lugachov, Mykola Moroziuk, Valeriy Fedorchuk, Volodymyr Chesnakov, Taras Stepanenko, Eugeny Konoplyanka, Yaroslav Rakitskiy, Denys Vasin, Roman Zozulia, Volodymyr Lysenko, Artem Kravets, Andriy Yarmolenko
Verdict: Both sides to score at 4/5.