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England face Ukraine at the NSK Olimpijs'kyj in Kiev, with Roy Hodgson's men on the brink of a massive step towards confirming their place in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil next year. They will kick-off as leaders of Group H following a morale-boosting 4-0 win at Wembley over Moldova on Friday. The Ukrainians, meanwhile, are third in the group and trail England and rivals Montenegro by one point. The 2012 European Championships co-host were in formidable form last week, putting nine past San Marino at home.

The group winner will qualify directly for next summer's tournament, while the team in second place has to go through a play-off round.

Roy Hodgson
Reuters

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 8pm BST. Live coverage is on ITV and ITV HD. Radio commentary is available on BBC Radio 5 live.

Overview

Ukraine's 9-0 demolition of San Marino should have sent warning bells ringing across England. The hosts for this game have already expressed their confidence ahead of kick-off in Kiev and with Hodgson forced to deal with a number of injuries to key players, particularly up front, Ukraine could spring a surprise. Indeed, they almost did so in the reverse fixture and were it not for a fortunate Frank Lampard penalty late in the second half, Ukraine would have walked from Wembley with all three points.

Moreover, there is an element of revenge in this match-up. England and Ukraine fought each other for a berth in the last World Cup as well and the English won that bout. Ukraine were dropped into the play-offs and were beaten 1-0 on aggregate by Greece.

Meanwhile, Hodgson was left furious after the match against Moldova, despite a superb brace from Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck and a second international goal in as many games for Southampton's Rickie Lambert. The problem is Welbeck picked up a rather harsh yellow card in that game and the youngster is now suspended for this crucial tie. England can afford to draw this game or even lose it and still qualify but given their final games are against Montenegro and Poland (both at Wembley), Hodgson will be keen to wrap up at least second place as soon as possible.

What the Managers Say

Mykhaylo Fomenko (when asked if this is the biggest game of his career): "Not only of mine. Because with victory, this match gives us the possibility to achieve our objectives. We don't want to make you (the Ukrainian people) angry."

Roy Hodson (on Manchester City midfielder James Milner): "After a long period of time where I've not seen many wingers in the country, I'm now seeing lots of them. But we are going to need experience in Kiev. Milner is not a winger, but the qualities he brings could be very useful."

Team Form

Ukraine

    • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): W W W D W
    • Last Result: Ukraine 9 - 0 San Marino
    • Probable Line-Up: Pyatov; Khacheridi ,Shevchuk ,Fedetskiy, Rakitskiy; Tymoshchuk, Yarmolenko, Konoplyanka, Edmar; Seleznyov, Devic

England

    • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): W W D D D
    • Last Result: England 4 - 0 Moldova
    • Probable Line-Up: Hart; Walker, Jagielka, Cahill, Cole; Gerrard, Lampard, Wilshere; Walcott, Lambert, Milner
Ukraine Wayne Rooney Poland Manchester United FC