England will be without John Terry after the Chelsea captain sustained an ankle injury in the second half of the dominant win over Moldova on Friday. Terry played through the pain with England having already used all of their substitutions, and the injury was worsened to the extent that he will miss out here.
Jermain Defoe will continue to lead the line with Wayne Rooney and Andy Carroll still absent, while Baines will fill in for Ashley Cole at left back once again.
Lampard and Gerrard worked well alongside one another in the double pivot of the 4-2-3-1 formation, with Tom Cleverley playing ahead of them. Roy Hodgson is likely to continue with that setup.
Theo Walcott will miss out due to illness, while Daniel Sturridge is still available despite stomach cramps, though he is still a doubt.
Raheem Sterling, Jake Livermore and Adam Lallana have been called into the squad, but Roy Hodgson has confirmed that John Terry will be the only change made to the team.
With the duo of attacking Andriys, Shevchenko and Voronin, both having retired after Euro 2012, Ukraine set about their World Cup qualifying campaign needing to find the next generation of strikers.
Milevsky and Devic started the match against England at the Euros, and could do so again here at Wembley, although Roman Zozulya is waiting in the wings for his chance.
Anatoliy Tymoshchuk will continue to captain the side.
Prediction
A repeat of the Euro 2012 group stage match sees England face Ukraine on home soil. That match ended in a 1-0 victory for England, with Wayne Rooney scoring the only goal of the game, though Ukraine certainly game England a run for their money, having 16 attempts on goal, including the shot which John Terry hooked out from the goal when replays showed it had just crossed the line.
England will have a much-changed team from that game, with many of their first XI out injured, so Ukraine might just fancy their chances of an upset to get their campaign off to a flying start.
However, England will be in good spirits after their 5-0 thrashing of Moldova last week, and with 90 minutes of practice together which Ukraine haven't had, they will be the quicker to start here. That could be the difference between the sides, and England should add 3 points to their qualifying tally.
2-4-4. Thought England would be well prepared to play against a bus in front of goal. They do it all the time in the EPL. Chelsea parked 11 in front of goal and won.
@DarthBlatter I think England's worry will be out wide, that's where Ukraine might have some superiority. Yarmolenko ran things when they played at the Euros. Central midfield not an issue. Lap/gerrad/Cleverley will dominate
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truth1984orwell
35 weeks ago
+2
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Dave
36 weeks ago
+1
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Fabbro
36 weeks ago
+1
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kreizi
36 weeks ago
+1
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spuds
36 weeks ago
+1
-1
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DarthBlatter
36 weeks ago
+1
-1
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spuds
36 weeks ago
+1
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footballgod
36 weeks ago
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Infamous
36 weeks ago
+1
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DarthBlatter
36 weeks ago
+1
-1
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See all 15 comments2-4-4. Thought England would be well prepared to play against a bus in front of goal. They do it all the time in the EPL. Chelsea parked 11 in front of goal and won.
I'd hardly say 2-0 is a crazy prediction. England will rightly be favourites at home. Doesn't always work out that way but I'd say 2-0 as well
2-0??? are u crazy? lol
2-2
@DarthBlatter I think England's worry will be out wide, that's where Ukraine might have some superiority. Yarmolenko ran things when they played at the Euros. Central midfield not an issue. Lap/gerrad/Cleverley will dominate
@spuds it is not about the number of players but the type of players. I don't think they will have the energy to hold the midfield defensively.
@DarthBlatter It will against a 2 man midfield, if Ukraine line up with only Garmash and Tymoshchuk in there
Lampard and Gerrard as the mid two? Is Hodgson drunk?
2-1 by Dave is a good prediction. England need Rooney back quick.
Lampard, Gerrard and Cleverly midfield won't work against Ukraine.