After reviewing 15 of the 16 participants in this month’s Euro 2012 tournament, it’s time to roll out the final contenders. The last team to come under analysis in our series of articles is co-hosts Ukraine:
In the final game of Round 1 matches, Oleg Blokhin’s team kick-start their campaign with a clash against Sweden on Monday June 11 at 7.45pm. Next up is a showdown with France four days later at the earlier time of 5pm on Friday June 15 before the co-hosts square up to England on Tuesday June 19 at 7.45pm.
Group D looks likely to be one of the most open of the four. France are one of the favourites, having topped their qualifying group with six wins and a single defeat in 10 matches, conceding just four goals along the way. England also won their group after finishing ahead of Montenegro by six points – they were undefeated under Fabio Capello and shipped only five goals, while Sweden also qualified automatically, after finishing as best runners-up in a campaign that brought 31 goals in 10 matches.
The Friendlies
Blokhin’s side have played 10 friendlies in their build-up for the Euros since last August and have steadily improved over the last few months. Ukraine lost the first three of those fixtures but were unbeaten in the next six, winning five times and drawing once, before succumbing to a 3-2 loss at the hands of Austria last Friday. They have found the net 21 times over those 10 matches and, after a couple of blanks in the first three games, have demonstrated a strong attacking threat, scoring two or more goals eight times. At the back, though, they have been less impressive, conceding 17 goals and returning just three clean sheets.
Most Appearances: Tymoschuk & Konoplyanka (10), Yarmolenko, Butko & Milevskyi (9), Devic (8)
Top Goalscorers: Yarmolenko & Gusev (5), Konoplyanka (3), Milevskyi (2)
Top Assists: Yarmolenko (5), Devic, Gusev & Aliyev (2)
The Likely Lads
Top for both goals and assists over those last 10 games, Andriy Yarmolenko is an obvious choice. Coming in at 7.0 in the McDonald’s game, the Dynamo Kiev man is the most popular player in the Ukraine squad – a low ownership of just 6% suggests a distinct lack of faith in Blokhin’s squad. With four goals in his last seven and a pair of assists in the defeat to Austria, Yarmolenko’s threat from the flank affords Fantasy managers a strong mid-price option and his contribution will be key if the co-hosts are to progress beyond the group stages.
Oleg Gusev has been another stand-out performer over the friendlies – the Dynamo Kiev man returned five goals in addition to providing a pair of assists over just six appearances. The only problem is that Gusev – classified as a midfielder – is currently fielded as a right-back by Blokhin, though it’s clear his attacking potential has been undiminished. It’s also worth noting that a couple of those goals came from spot-kicks when Andriy Shevchenko was not on the pitch; whether Gusev is ahead of the former Chelsea man in the pecking order is perhaps debatable but, at 6.5 in the McDonald’s game, he’s another midfield alternative who could prosper.
Cheeky Punt
Priced at a mere 5.5, Yevhen Konoplyanka is an intriguing proposition. The winger was one of only two players (along with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk) to feature in all 10 of the previous friendlies and grabbed three goals and an assist for Blokhin’s side. Starts look assured, then, and with a mere 0.9% ownership, he’s a definite differential for those considering alternatives to the likes of Yarmolenko.
Up front, it looks like anyone’s guess. Andriy Voronin and Marko Devic have started both the recent friendlies, with Andriy Shevchenko and Artem Milevskyi climbing off the bench against Estonia and Austria respectively. Ukraine have one final friendly on the horizon – against Turkey tomorrow evening – and Fantasy managers will hopefully be given more of a clue as to Blokhin’s thinking. Certainly, if the former two feature from the kick-off once again, they would surely be favourites to start in the group opener with Sweden the following Monday. Devic is by far the cheapest of the quartet and comes in at just 5.0, while Shevchenko – who has struggled with injury over the last couple of months – is the priciest at 7.0 and has proven to be the most popular, with 2% ownership in the McDonald’s game.
With so much uncertainty over the goalkeeper position and the likes of former Barcelona man Dmytro Chygrynskyi ruled out due to injury, the options are a little muddied at the back. Taras Mykhalyk has started the last three at centre-half, however, and looks an assured first-team pick; priced at 5.0 he is likely to benefit from the recovered ball rule, bearing in mind his side’s defensive frailties. Considering Ukraine play on the final day, though, he’s perhaps a little pricey as a final defensive throw of the dice (there are cheaper options in Sweden’s defence, for example) but we’re talking about punts here and Mykhalyk, with a 0.2% ownership, doesn’t come without a degree of risk.
Further Analysis
Group A Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Russia
Group B Denmark, Gemany, Holland, Portugal
Group C Croatia, Italy, Republic of Ireland,Spain
Group D England, France, Sweden
Fantasy Football Scout Euro 2012 Leagues
Fantasy Football Scout are running several leagues and tournaments over various games for the Summer tournament…
Fantasy League Pro – It’s not too late to set up a Pro League with an online auction. Click here to get started and use our comment boards to recruit league members.
We’re running two Tournaments in the Picklive game, a free to enter league here and a £5 entry with prize pot league right here. There’s also £2500 in the prize pot for Picklive’s big tournament game.
Our McDonalds UEFA Euro 2012 League code is : 638-996
