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Group 6 | Wed 1/4/09 | Kickoff: 20.00 BST | London

England - Ukraine

Revitalised Sheva can shoot Ukraine to victory

Since returning to AC Milan Andrei Shevchenko has been revitalized with his international form also enjoying a boost. Indeed, he has bagged half of Ukraine’s goals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup^TM Qualifiers so far.

Compared to his performances from the last two tournaments, Shevchenko has seen his goal rate and number of chances created both improve significantly in the 2010 FIFA World Cup^TM Qualifiers. Despite his advancing years, he is still a major goal threat and one England will have to suppress if they are to win at Wembley.

Shevchenko	WC 2006 Finals	Euro 08 Qual	WC 2010 Qual
Goals	2	5	2
Mins per Goal	237	144	97
Total Shots Attempted	10	27	9
Goals to Shots Ratio	20.0%	18.5%	22.2%
Shooting Accuracy	50.0%	48.2%	44.4%
Mins per Chance Created	79	180	38.8

Ukraine need second-half strength to defeat England

England can be thankful football is a game of two halves, with 86% of their goals coming after the break. If only the first-half was taken into account, England would have six points instead of the 12 they have currently in Group 6.

England had to wait 52 minutes to score against Kazakhstan and 49 minutes against Andorra. The two England scorers in the first-half are Theo Walcott (Castrol Index 7.84) (4-1 v Croatia) and Steven Gerrard (3-1 v Belarus). Another quiet first-half on the horizon? Ukraine are yet to concede before the break in the 2010 FIFA World Cup^TM Qualifiers.