Having lost all three of their opening fixtures in Group F, Dutch champions Feyenoord travel to the Ukraine to take on Shakhtar Donetsk next Wednesday, with little more than pride to play for. With the home side having collected six points from the same number of games, it is Shakhtar that are the overwhelming favourites for victory.
Champions League – Oblasny SportKomplex Metalist (Kharkiv) – Wednesday 1st November – 19:45 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 4 at Ladbrokes |
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Shakhtar Donetsk
FC FeyenoordMatch Preview
Having defeated their Dutch opponents on the road just a week ago, it is little surprise that Shakhtar are the firm favourites to collect another three points this time around, which could potentially put them a step closer towards qualification for the Champions League knockout phase. Paulo Fonseca’s men have played some scintillating football on their way to victories over Feyenoord and Napoli so far, with the Ukrainian champions even being unfortunate to leave Manchester with nothing to show for their troubles in the opening week of the competition. Not many teams depart the Ukraine with three points, with Shakhtar determined to make sure that is not the case this time around either.
Shakhtar Donetsk Team News & Form
Shakhtar produced a comeback victory over Feyenoord in Holland last week, with Brazilian Bernard at the double in a 2-1 success. However, following his red card in the match, defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy will be unavailable for selection. Having guided his team to a valuable draw against rivals Dynamo Kiev in the Ukrainian top-flight at the weekend, manager Paulo Fonseca will be hoping that his team can keep up their good run of form. With just one defeat to their name in the league, Shakhtar already find themselves seven points clear at the top, while they are nicely placed in Group F also. The likes of Bernard, Detinho and Fred have been in sparkling form all season, with the Brazilian trio set to cause the Feyenoord defence no end of problems.
Feyenoord Team News & Form
Feyenoord come into this match off the back of a disappointing 4-1 defeat to fierce rivals Ajax at the De Kuip Stadium, with manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst under pressure to ensure that his team do not end the group phase of the Champions League without a point to their name. Whilst conceding nine goals in their three matches to date has not helped their cause, it is the lack of goals that will have fans in Rotterdam the most worried. As a result, the emphasis will be on Danish international Nicolai Joergensen to rediscover his touch in front of goal.
Head to Head
Before their meeting last week, the two teams have never previously met in any competitive fixture, with Feyenoord’s trip to Holland next week a completely new venture for the Dutch champions. As a result, there are no conclusions to be made in this area when looking to make predictions surrounding this encounter.
Betting Odds and Predictions
The fact that Shakhtar’s home record is so good means that all online bookmakers have made then the firm favourites for victory leading into the match. Backing Shakhtar Donetsk can be done at best odds of 4/11 with Ladbrokes, whilst Ladbrokes offers the visiting team odds of 15/2. Elsewhere, given the fact that both teams scored in Rotterdam last week, backing them to repeat this trick is worth considering, with 10Bet offering odds of 3/4 for this market.
Top Betting Tip
Our top betting tip for the match is to back the Shakhtar to score over 2.5 goals in the 90 minutes, which is available at odds of 11/10 with Ladbrokes.