Schalke 04 vs FC Shakhtar Donetsk Betting Tips & Predictions

Schalke 04 will be disappointed to have ended the first leg 0-0 after a really dominant second half performance. Unfortunately for Schalke Olexandr Kucher’s red card in the 86th minute for Shakhtar didn’t give them enough time to capitalise on the 1 man advantage.

Shakhtar Donetsk may have won the Europa League back in 2009 beating Werder Bremen in the final, but they have failed to progress past the round of 32 since. They are going into this without a victory in 7 straight Europa League games.

REASON FOR BETTING TIPS

Schalke 04 are unbeaten at home in Europe this season and have conceded a joint low (alongside Napoli) of 3 goals during this season’s group stage. Shakthar lost all 3 of their Champions League group stage away games without scoring and have only scored 1 goal in 5 continental away games this season. Shakhtar’s 8 games against German teams in Germany ended with only 2 wins (drawn 1 and lost 5). This is the third time Shakhtar have reached the round of 32 since they won this competition in 2009. Given the poor away form of Shakhtar in Europe (and against German teams in the past) and Schalke having a really strong Europa League campaign so far there seems no other outcome than Schalke progressing through to the round of 16 with a correct score prediction of 2-0 at 7/1 for Schalke 04 seeming likely.

RECENT FORM

All competitions, most recent first:

Schalke 04: DDLWWL

FC Shakhtar Donetsk: DDWWLD

Head-To-Head

The last and only time the 2 teams met was the 2004/05 UEFA Cup round of 32 where Shakhtar Donetsk eliminated Schalke with a 1-0 win in Schalke after drawing 1-1  at home in Donetsk.

Team News

Schalke 04: still missing captain and world cup winning central defender Benedict Höwedes along with bench warming defender Nastasic and midfielder Höger.

Shakthar Donetsk:  missing defender Olexandr Kucher (who was sent off late on in the reverse fixture) and Fred to suspension.

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