Ukraine U21 vs Denmark U21 Prediction: Kvistgaarden to get Danes in the green

Ukraine were semi-finalists at the 2023 Uefa European Under-21 Championship in Georgia and Romania, beating France 3-1 in the last eight along the way. On Thursday (17:00, 4seven), Unai Melgosa's side begin their campaign in Slovakia at Stadion 1. FC Tatran, where they take on Denmark, who reached the quarter-finals in 2021 but missed out on the tournament two years ago.

Read below for my Ukraine U21 vs Denmark U21 predictions, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this Uefa European Under-21 Championship Group D game from Presov.

Team News

Melgosa's 23-man Ukraine squad features seven players plying their trade outside of their homeland, including Brentford midfielder Yehor Yarmolyuk and Lechia Gdansk forward Bohdan Viunnyk, who is one of six with 25+ caps at this level.

Ukraine will be captained by Dynamo Kyiv's Volodymyr Brazhko, who is joined in Slovakia by seven of his club teammates.

Football Odds

Trabzonspor defender Arseniy Batahov is the most-capped player in the squad, having turned out for the U21s 36 times.

Udinese defender Thomas Kristensen, Newcastle United striker William Osula and Sporting CP forward Conrad Harder are perhaps the three most well-known names from Steffen Hojer's Denmark squad, with Harder enjoying a successful season in Portugal as Viktor Gyokeres' understudy, netting 11 times in 47 appearances, including one goal in the Uefa Champions League against Bologna.

FC Midtjylland midfielder Oliver Sorensen is one to keep an eye on, having struck nine times in 28 Danish Superliga appearances this season, and he has four goals in seven U21 caps.

Ukraine U21 vs Denmark U21 Odds

Ukraine and Denmark last met at this level in March 2023, with the Eastern Europeans winning that friendly 3-2. The Ukrainians are 15/8, or a 34.8% chance, to chalk up another success against the Danes on Thursday, while Hojer's charges are 13/10 to kick off their Euros with a victory, implying a 43.5% probability.

The draw is priced at 23/10, both teams to score at 8/13, and over 2.5 total goals at 4/5.

Anytime Goalscorer - Mathias Kvistgaarden (DEN) @ 8/5

Danish forward Mathias Kvistgaarden enjoyed a superb 2024/25 season with his club side Brondby, netting 23 goals in 38 appearances, including 17 in 29 Superliga outings as he finished second in the Golden Boot race, three behind winner Patrick Mortensen (Aarhus).

The 23-year-old was named in the Superliga Team of the Season and was rewarded with a call-up to the Danish national team by Brian Reimer, who handed him his senior debut in the 2-1 friendly victory over Northern Ireland last Saturday.

Kvistgaarden is back in action for the U21s on Thursday, though, for whom he has scored seven goals in 17 caps, three of which were struck in the Danes' qualifying campaign.

He's the favourite to score anytime in Presov, and given his form over the season, including the back end of the campaign, as he found the net eight times in his final 12 appearances, I'm happy to back him to strike against Ukraine.

West Ham United, Eintracht Frankfurt and Celtic are among the clubs to have been credited with an interest in signing Kvistgaarden this summer, and this tournament could be used as an opportunity to put himself in the shop window to others, so he should be bang up for this Euros, starting with Thursday's opening game at Stadion 1. FC Tatran.

Price Boosts - Denmark U21 to Win, Both Teams to Score & Mathias Kvistgaarden (DEN) to Score @ 5/1 6/1

One of Betfred's price boosts piques my interest here, particularly as one of the three legs, Kvistgaarden to score anytime, is already detailed in my first tip.

So, I'll brush past that selection, referring you back if your memory needs refreshing, and instead press on to the first two legs, which require Denmark to win and both teams to score.

I'm expecting a close contest in Presov on Thursday, with eighth-favourites in the outright odds, Denmark (25/1), taking on the ninth-most-fancied side, Ukraine (33/1). The latter reached the final four of the previous tournament and finished just one point behind tournament frontrunners England in Group F of qualifying, so they are certainly no pushovers.

However, I don't think they possess anywhere near the individual quality of the 2023 side, which boasted the talents of Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea), Georgiy Sudakov (Shakhtar Donetsk) and Anatoliy Trubin (SL Benfica).

Denmark, meanwhile, topped Group I in qualifying, inspired by three goals apiece from Kvistgaarden and Sorensen, and they held Italy to a 1-1 draw in Cittadella in March, so I think they have enough to edge this contest.

I expect Ukraine to get on the scoresheet, though, with both teams scoring in seven of their last nine games, and all of Denmark's last three.

Offers

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