Thursday Football Tips: Penalty fever to spread in Ukraine v Northern Ireland

Ukraine v Northern Ireland
Thursday 3 June, 19:00
Live on Sky Sports Main Event

Today's props suggestion is another value play - and it's one based almost entirely on the referee.

The man in the middle for Ukraine's Euro 2020 tune-up is Pole Szymon Marciniak, a man who loves to give a penalty.

Across all competitions this season, he's awarded a spot kick in 13 of his 30 matches. With two awarded in no fewer than seven of those games, he's given 20 in total.

In terms of international football, Marciniak has pointed to the spot in seven of his last 12 matches, while anyone worried that 'this is just a friendly' should note he's awarded a penalty in his last two such games.

Despite these statistics you can get 11/5 for a penalty to be awarded which looks a strong play.

Other potential options include Ukraine to score a penalty at 4/1. With Euro 2020 looming, the hosts are the ones with a need to impress and in Ruslan Malinovskyi and Andriy Yarmolenko they have two attacking players who are more than capable of winning fouls - the former was among Atalanta's most-fouled players in Serie A this season.

You can also get 40/1 about both teams scoring a penalty via the #OddsOnThat feature - not the worst big price around given the referee's penchant for pens.

Click here for Paul Robinson's in-depth preview of Ukraine v Northern Ireland