Ukraine vs Romania Odds
| Ukraine Odds | -110 |
| Romania Odds | +310 |
| Draw | +240 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 +120o / -150u |
Group E action kicks off Monday morning at Euro 2024 when Ukraine and Romania meet at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.
Romania returns to a major tournament for the first time since Euro 2016, and it has only advanced beyond the group stage once at this event. Meanwhile, the Ukrainians qualified through the playoffs with a group of young, talented attackers.
I’m expecting this match to be dominated by one team in possession, which should open up some opportunities in betting props. Let's take a closer look in our Ukraine vs. Romania preview.
Ukraine
With everything going on off the field, you have to feel that Ukraine will be a team that a lot of neutrals will be pulling for in this tournament. This could help push a squad with plenty of young stars.
It hasn’t been an easy road up to this point. First, this Ukrainian squad was paired in a qualifying group with England and Italy, which resulted in just two out of a possible 12 points in those head-to-head meetings.
Fortunately, Serhiy Rebrov’s team won the other fixtures before defeating Iceland and Bosnia in the playoffs to book its place in this tournament.
Most Premier League fans will know of Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk and Oleksandr Zinchenko of Arsenal, but one name to watch is Artem Dovbyk. The Girona striker won the Golden Boot in La Liga this season.
Romania
This is a return to the big stage for Romania, a nation that has had success at major tournaments. This is a country that qualified for the knockout rounds at three straight World Cups from 1990-1998 and made the quarterfinals of this tournament in 2000.
However, there has not been much success since then, with Romania failing to qualify for the last six World Cups. This could be the type of Cinderella story that could surprise opponents in Germany.
One player EPL fans will know is Tottenham Hotspurs’ defender Radu Drăgușin. There are also two Romanians who featured in La Liga this season in goalkeeper Horațiu Moldovan (Atlético Madrid) and defender Andrei Ratiu (Rayo Vallecano).
With most of his better players in defense, Edward Iordănescu’s team typically allows opponents to have plenty of possession and looks to attack on the counter. I could see that being the plan here in this one.
Ukraine vs Romania
Prediction
When I picture how this game plays out, I think Ukraine will be the team with more possession and chances in front of goal. I see the Romanians sitting deep defensively, which will hinder its offensive threat. This leads me to my favorite bet coming in the prop market.
My best bet is for Romania to fall under the team corner total of 3.5 at +120 odds at bet365. I would play this bet down to -105.
In qualifying, Romania only played one nation that qualified for this event. This play would have cashed in both of those games against Switzerland, with Romania only registering two combined corners.
The other metric that stood out in those matches was the lack of chances. The Romanians did not reach double figures for shots in either game for an average of just 7.5 shots per 90 minutes.
I also don’t hate Ukraine to win the corners matchup, but I’ll stick to just fading the Romania attack.
Pick: Romania Under 3.5 Corners (+120 via bet365)
