Shakhtar Donetsk vs Crystal Palace Predictions

• Both teams have scored in all three of Palace’s away legs in the knockouts
• Shakhtar have scored in 11 of their 12 Conference League games so far
• Sarr has scored in four straight games in Europe

Eagles have Leipzig in their sights

Crystal Palace haven’t made life easy for themselves in their first full European campaign, but they’re a round away from reaching the Conference League final in Leipzig.

The Eagles head to Poland for their first-leg clash with a Shakhtar Donetsk side that has lost only two of 12 games in this competition. The Ukrainian side scored five goals across their quarter-final tie with AZ Alkmaar, and they’ve netted in all but one of their matches in this Conference League run.

Palace qualified for the last four after a 2-1 defeat in Florence saw them progress 4-2 on aggregate. The Eagles have looked a little too open on their travels in this competition, with both teams scoring in all three of their away knockout ties. Palace have managed only one clean sheet across their last five European trips, and that came at a poor Shelbourne side.

However, the Eagles have a lot of talent in the final third, including Ismaila Sarr. The Senegalese winger has seven strikes in the Conference League this season, putting him only a goal shy of the competition’s top scorers. He’s struck four goals across his last three appearances in Europe, while he’s scored goals in visits to Zrinjski, Larnaca, and Fiorentina in the knockouts.