Wales vs. Ukraine Predictions: Two bets for World Cup play-off final match

Live on Sky Sports, Wales go up against Ukraine in this massive World Cup qualification play-off final at the Cardiff City Stadium this Sunday at 5pm. This is a hugely significant clash for both teams as a spot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is on the line here. Wales come into this final after beating Austria 2-1 in the semi-finals courtesy of a Gareth Bale brace while Ukraine overcame Scotland 3-1 at the Hampden Park as the whole world cheered them on. Wales will certainly have the advantage of home support but Ukraine will have the support of every neutral fan after what has been going on for the past few months in their country. However, there is no room for sympathy on the field and both teams will battle it out for an intense 90 minutes to get themselves that all important world cup spot. Ukraine are on an 11 game unbeaten run in all competitions and have beaten Wales 1-0 in their only head to head clash back in 2016. As for Wales, they have had an impressive qualification campaign so far losing just 1 out of their 9 qualification games.

A mouth-watering play-off final awaits us and as usual, I have you covered with 2 of my best betting angles included in the preview below:

Team News:

Wales come into this game with a fully fit squad & Joe Morrell is available after missing the semi-final through suspension.

Ukraine also have a fully fit squad going into this game and no suspensions to worry about.

Wales possible starting lineup:

Hennessey; Rodon, Ampadu, Davies; Roberts, Ramsey, Allen, Williams; Wilson, Bale, James

Ukraine possible starting lineup:

Bushchan; Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Matvienko, Mykolenko; Malinovskyi, Stepanenko, Zinchenko; Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk, Tsygankov

Considering the significance of this game with a world cup spot on the line, I expect both teams to make cynical fouls in the final 45 minutes and some time wasting could also come into play if one of the teams is leading. Both teams saw at least 2 cards in the 2nd halves of their semifinals and I expect that trend to continue here.

With such huge stakes, I expect both teams to approach this game cautiously and not give away too many clear cut opportunities to the other side. This should result in a cagey and low-scoring game hence the “Under 4 goals” selection.

Finally, Gareth Bale is Wales’ main man at the moment having scored a brace against Austria in the semifinals including a stunning free-kick into the top corner. He had 5 shots in that game and should comfortably have at least 2 attempts on goal in this final. Combining these 3 selections gives us a cracking betbuilder @ 5/6 and I am happy to stake 1pt on that as our main bet.

Gareth Bale will be playing up top for Wales and is their most threatening player in attack. Having scored a brace in the semi-finals, he will be full of confidence here and I am backing him to find the back of the net again. Following on from our main bet, the goals strategy remains the same as we expect a low-scoring cagey final with a slightly lower “Under 3 goals” line included. Combining these 2 selections gives us an attractive longshot @ 5/1 and I am happy to stake a small 0.25pt on that.

Best of luck if you follow these selections. Please always gamble responsibly.