Still in with a shot at making the World Cup 2022 playoffs, Ukraine round off their Group D campaign away to Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday night.
The hosts fell to a 3-1 defeat against Finland on the penultimate matchday, whereas Ukraine have not been in action in qualifying since drawing with the Bosnians last month.
Match preview
Losing to the 10 men of Finland and witnessing Sead Kolasinac suffer a nasty-looking injury truly compounded Bosnia's misery on Saturday, as the Nordic nation managed to propel themselves into a two-goal lead thanks to Marcus Forss and Robin Lod before Luka Menalo made things interesting.
Even with Finland a man down for most of the encounter after Jukka Raitala's challenge on Kolasinac warranted a deserved red card, Daniel O'Shaughnessy put the game to bed with a 73rd-minute strike to keep his side's World Cup dreams alive at the expense of Bosnia's.
Ivaylo Petev's side were still in contention for a second-placed finish after stringing together a four-game unbeaten run in Group D, but Bosnia are now four points adrift of second-placed Finland with only one game left to play and cannot finish any higher than third in the group now.
Victory over their upcoming opponents would see them do just that, and Petev's side will be determined to round off a failed qualification bid on a high note, but they have only amassed two wins from their last 19 in all competitions ahead of the final matchday.
Ukraine have had the pleasure of watching their rivals lock horns and build up fatigue while they mastermind a tactical plan for the final day, but their fate is out of their own hands before the journey to Zenica.
Oleksandr Petrakov's side have not been in action in World Cup qualifying since their 1-1 draw with Bosnia last month, but they played out a two-goal stalemate with Bulgaria in a recent friendly, with Radoslav Kirilov's strike cancelled out by Taras Stepanenko.
Ukraine are the resident draw specialists in Group D - sharing the spoils in six of their seven encounters so far and getting the better of Finland last month - but they sit two points behind the Nordic nation as they prepare to meet France on the final day.
With Finland fighting an uphill battle to take maximum points from their meeting with the reigning world champions, Ukraine will desperately seek to produce the goods against a Bosnia side who have nothing but pride to play for, as nothing less than three points will do for the Blue and Yellow here.
Ukraine's affinity for draws means that they are still unbeaten in Group D, and it would be some story if Petrakov's side failed to book their plane tickets to next summer's tournament despite not suffering a single defeat in qualifying.
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Team News
Kolasinac amazingly did not require a stretcher to leave the pitch after Raitala's horror challenge, but the Arsenal man's ankle injury is sure to rule him out of this contest, while Edin Dzeko missed the defeat to Finland and will reportedly head back to Milan to recover over the weekend.
Eldar Civic could therefore switch across to the left-hand side of defence as Mateo Susic returns to the right flank, and Pyatov may consider a couple more alterations for the final day.
Substitutes Menalo and Amer Gojak combined for the former's consolation effort in the defeat to Finland, and both men will hope to force their way into the first XI here.
Meanwhile, Ukraine did not pick up any fresh concerns in the friendly draw with Bulgaria, but numerous changes can be expected from that starting lineup this week.
Teenage defender Ilya Zabarnyi did not take part in that battle but ought to return to the rearguard here, while Oleksandr Karavaev may displace Oleksandr Tymchyk at right-back.
Twelve-goal forward Roman Yaremchuk and Viktor Tsygankov should also take their rightful places in the front three, as West Ham United's Andriy Yarmolenko earns cap number 106.
Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Susic, Ahmedhodzic, Sanicanin, Civic; Pjanic, Cimirot, Gojak; Krunic, Demirovic, Menalo
Ukraine possible starting lineup:
Bushchan; Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Matvienko, Sobol; Zinchenko, Shaparenko, Malinovskiy; Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk, Tsygankov
We say: Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-2 Ukraine
Ukraine surely cannot fathom another share of the spoils as they desperately seek to pip Finland to second place, and fans should be treated to a fired-up visiting outfit recalling some well-rested big names up top.
Bosnia will not be motivated to play for anything other than pride in front of the home faithful and will lose a good chunk of their attacking bite with Dzeko out, so we are backing Ukraine to get the job done as they pray for France to do them a favour on the same night.
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