Romania U21 will host Ukraine U21 at Stadionul Steaua in a matchday two fixture of the 2023 UEFA Euro U-21 Championship on Saturday evening. Romania U21 had a good qualifying campaign for this competition, but their start against Spain U21 on Wednesday was not one to remember. They kickstarted their campaign with a dismal 3-0 defeat to Spain on Thursday. All three goals were scored in the second half, with Alex Baena, Juan Miranda and Sergi Gomes scoring to inspire the Spaniards to victory. Meanwhile, Ukraine U21s are making their first appearance in this competition since 2011. They got off to the desired start on their return to the tournament, beating Croatia U21 2-0, and will be hoping for more of the same this weekend. Oleksii Kashchuk broke the deadlock in the 18th minute before turning provider for Danilo Sikan three minutes into the second half. The win took them to second position in the standings with three points. Spain lead the way at the summit on goal difference. I am expecting a win for the Ukrainians for the following reasons:

Firstly. Romania U21 have struggled defensively in recent months. The co-hosts of U21 EURO 2024 tournament have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven competitive matches. Having failed to win a fixture at this level since March 2022, Romania could have done without an opening match against a team of the calibre of Spain. They managed to withstand the quality of their opponents' attack, and that was achieved for the opening 55 minutes.

However, Spain eventually overpowered the co-hosts, scoring two goals during a seven-minute spell before a third strike was netted during the closing minutes.

Secondly. Ukraine, for their part, had an impressive start, with their comfortable win taking them a step closer to the knockouts. They have put together an impressive set of results since the middle of October 2021, only losing away in Slovakia and Italy during that time. Ukraine U21 have plenty of goals in them, even though they are considered by some to be the underdogs in this competition. Their win over Croatia U21 last time out was the 11th time in their last 12 games that they scored at least two goals. They will look to get a win to consolidate their qualification chances and avoid having to need a result against favourites Spain next week.

With Romania having played the group and, arguably, tournament favourites, they will feel that they can turn things around against Ukraine. However, Ukraine are full of confidence, on a good run of form, and have Mudryk at their disposal, leading me to predict a win for Ukraine on Saturday evening.

在周六晚上的2023年欧洲U21锦标赛第二比赛日比赛中，罗马尼亚U21将在斯托瓦体育场迎战乌克兰U21。罗马尼亚U21在预选赛中表现出色，但他们在周三对阵西班牙U21的比赛中表现不佳。在周四的比赛中，他们以0 - 3惨败西班牙，拉开了新赛季的序幕。这三粒进球都是在下半场打进的，巴埃纳、米兰达和戈麦斯的进球激励西班牙人取得胜利。与此同时，乌克兰u21国家队自2011年以来首次亮相本届世界杯。他们以2:0的比分击败了克罗地亚U21，并在本周末取得了同样的成绩。奥列克西·卡什丘克在第18分钟打破僵局，然后在下半场开始3分钟为达尼洛·西坎提供助攻。这场胜利使他们以三分排名第二。西班牙队在净胜球上领先。我预计乌克兰人会赢，原因如下:

首先。罗马尼亚U21在最近几个月的防守中表现不佳。2024年U21欧洲杯的共同主办国在过去的七场比赛中只有一场没有失球。自2022年3月以来，罗马尼亚一直未能在这一级别的比赛中获胜，如果没有对阵西班牙队的揭幕战，罗马尼亚可能会取得成功。他们成功地抵挡住了对手的进攻，这在开场55分钟就实现了。

然而，西班牙队最终击败了东道主，在比赛结束前的7分钟内连进两球，并在比赛结束前的几分钟内攻入第三球。

其次。对于乌克兰来说，他们有一个令人印象深刻的开局，他们轻松获胜使他们离淘汰赛更近了一步。自2021年10月中旬以来，他们取得了一系列令人印象深刻的成绩，在此期间只在斯洛伐克和意大利输球。乌克兰U21有很多进球，尽管他们被一些人认为是本届比赛的弱者。上一场战胜克罗地亚U21的比赛是他们在过去12场比赛中第11次打进至少2球。他们将寻求一场胜利来巩固他们出线的机会，并避免下周对阵热门西班牙队的比赛。

罗马尼亚在小组赛中出线，可以说是本届杯赛的热门球队，他们会觉得自己可以在对阵乌克兰的比赛中扭转局面。然而，乌克兰充满信心，状态很好，并且有穆德里克在他们的支配下，这让我预测乌克兰将在周六晚上获胜。