Malta take on the visitors Ukraine in the round 8 match of group stage of UEFA Euro-2024 qualification. The match will be played on Tuesday, October 17th at Ta'Qali National Stadium (Ta' Qali).
Malta doesn't want to finish the qualification without any points. The Knights are considered underdogs. Not as hopeless as Liechtenstein or San Marino, with whom it can be a bit of a struggle, and who can punish for underestimation by causing a stumble. Nevertheless, it's worth remembering that they have never managed to achieve more than one win throughout all the qualification cycles. Even in the Nations League, they remain an underdog at the level of Division D, in the company of the weakest teams. Currently, despite having a player from a top league (Teddy Teuma from Reims), Michele Marcolini's team could only secure victories in friendly matches against Luxembourg and Gibraltar while losing all the qualification matches. Some were hard-fought: they even managed to score against North Macedonia, ending 1-2, and they conceded the only goal against Ukraine from a penalty. Italy, on the other hand, left no chances last Saturday, winning 4-0.
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Yellow and Blue under Shevchenko achieved many things, including playing in Division A of the Nations League. But, of course, the pinnacle of that era was reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2020. However, for some unknown reason, they did not renew the contract with Andriy, instead giving the post to Petrakov. He seemed to be good, but the national team did not make it to the World Cup, losing to Wales in the decisive playoff round (with an unfortunate own goal by Yarmolenko) and losing the battle for leadership in the Nations League group to Scotland. As a result, yellow-blues ended up in the third pot during the Euro draw, and they were drawn against England and Italy. They lost to England in March, back when Rotan was the acting coach, with no chance for something more significant. But starting from June, Rebrov was working on full terms. Sergei had a successful start: he made his debut with an entertaining draw in a friendly match against Germany, then, although not without difficulty, he won against North Macedonia (turning a 0-2 into a 3-2 in the second half) and against Malta. Moreover, they had the strength for a decent 1-1 draw with the English in September, but then they faltered on the Italian field, losing 1-2 to a direct competitor. October began with a match against North Macedonia with a squad weakened by injuries (including the simultaneous absence of Yarmolenko and Tsyhankov). They started in a traditionally challenging struggle, unable to capitalize on their chances but scoring a couple of incredible goals, eventually winning 2-0.
Before this qualification, the teams had only played one match, a friendly in 2017. Surprisingly, the Knights won it. The Yellow and Blue have shown their ability to achieve results. We predict that they will win both the first half and the match overall.
Prediction for the match: Ukraine to win the first half and the match.
