SM
Barcelona vs. Valencia: 15 hrs 42 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
UN
Friendlies 1
Jun 3, 2021 at 7pm UK
 
NI

Ukraine
1 - 0
N. Ireland

Zubkov (10')
Besedin (90+2')
FT(HT: 1-0)

McNair (90+3')

The talking points ahead of Northern Ireland's clash with Ukraine

:Headline: The talking points ahead of Northern Ireland's clash with Ukraine:
Ian Baraclough secured his first win as manager on Sunday, at the 12th attempt.
Sports Mole

Northern Ireland play their final match of the season on Thursday night when they take on Ukraine at the Dnipro Arena.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at five talking points ahead of the friendly fixture.

Can I get an encore?

Northern Ireland got some major monkeys off their back in Sunday's 3-0 win over Malta – a first victory inside 90 minutes for Ian Baraclough at the 12th attempt, and also the first time the manager had seen his side score more than one goal in a match. The performance offered plenty for Northern Ireland to build on, but Thursday's fixture is a massively more difficult prospect. Where Malta are ranked 175th in the world and went into the weekend fixture desperately short of match fitness, Ukraine are ranked 24th and going through their final tune-ups for Euro 2020. The match will prove a very different test.

Ukrainian send-off

Ex-Chelsea forward Andriy Shevchenko will be in the opposition dugout (Steve Paston/PA)

It will happen behind closed doors, but Ukraine will be looking to lay down a marker before the summer in their penultimate fixture before they open their Group C campaign against Holland on June 13. That means players will be playing for their places in Andriy Shevchenko's side, with only this and Monday's match against Cyprus left for those on the fringes to make their mark.

Happy memories

Gareth McAuley scored in Northern Ireland's 2-0 win over Ukraine at Euro 2016 (Jonathan Brady/PA)

A fixture against the Ukrainians will send Northern Irish minds back to the last European Championships and Lyon. It was there that Northern Ireland beat Ukraine 2-0 with second-half goals from Gareth McAuley and Niall McGinn giving Michael O'Neill's side what proved to be their only points of the campaign.

Experience over youth

Baraclough's squad for this summer camp was a blend of youth and experience, but he went pretty much as strong as he could for the Malta match, naming a side that included Stuart Dallas as captain, Craig Cathcart, Paddy McNair and McGinn. Given the difficulty of Thursday's fixture it seems likely the manager will go a similar way again with only minimal changes expected to the starting line-ups. The 17-year-old Conor Bradley made his debut off the bench at the weekend, and opportunities for the youngsters are again only likely to come when changes are made after the break.

Reinforcements

Two players that might come into the reckoning to start are Kyle Lafferty and Dan Ballard. The pair were missing at the weekend as Ballard helped Blackpool to promotion via the League One play-off final, while Lafferty had been a late arrival following Kilmarnock's relegation. Both have now been integrated into the group and are available. George Saville, who was a substitute at the weekend after coming into the group late himself, will also be pushing for a start.

body check tags ::

amp_article__449968 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2021-06-02 14:30:44:
html db last update - 2021-06-02 14:16:19 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Read more!
Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Read more about Ian Baraclough Football
Recommended Next on SM
Niall McGinn: 'Ukraine players will be fighting for Euro 2020 places'
Champions Man City continue title charge with win at Forest
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal35255585285780
2Manchester CityMan City34247382325079
3Liverpool35229477364175
4Aston Villa35207873522167
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs33186967521560
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd34166125251154
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle341651374551953
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham351310125665-949
9Chelsea33139116359448
10Bournemouth35139135260-848
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves35137154855-746
12Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton341111125257-544
13Fulham35127165155-443
14Crystal Palace351010154557-1240
15Everton35128153748-1136
16Brentford3598185260-835
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3579194262-2026
18Luton TownLuton3567224877-2925
19Burnley3559213870-3224
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd3537253497-6316
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

This weekend's permutations: Who can be crowned champions, win promotion or suffer relegation?

1

TW

Premier League Team of the Week - Havertz, Gallagher, Robertson

2

PL

Bournemouth's Semenyo suffers "bad" injury in Brighton win

3

BS

Man City's Ederson set to miss rest of season?

4

MC

Mikel Arteta hails "sensational" Arsenal star after derby victory

5

MA

Birmingham join Sheffield United in race for Leeds defender?

6

BJ

Preview: Bayern vs. Real Madrid - prediction, team news, lineups

7

PB

Sunday's Premier League predictions including Tottenham vs. Arsenal

8

SP

Sunday's Bundesliga predictions including Monchengladbach vs. Union Berlin

9

SB

Sunday's Primeira Liga predictions including Porto vs. Sporting Lisbon

10

SP


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .