Shakhtar Donetsk vs Schalke Betting Tips & Predictions

Shakhtar Donetsk have been out of action since the start of December due to the long winter break the colder parts of Europa have, and since then they have seen their best player of the season leave the club.

Alex Teixeira began attracting the attention of Liverpool in January, but as that deal fell through big spenders from China moved in, and he ended up leaving for Jiangsu Suning for 50 million Euros.

It might be a big financial windfall, but it is bound to have a negative impact on their football. Teixeira had scored 26 goals already this season, and now Shakhtar Donetsk will have to find his goalscoring abilities elsewhere in their squad.

The last game the Russians played before their winter break saw them lose 2-0 to Paris Saint Germain to end their torrid time in a difficult Champions League group. They finished that group stage with just three points after losing five of their six matches. To be fair to them, they did have to play PSG and Real Madrid twice each.

Schalke finished at the top of the pile in their Europa League group back in December, with an impressive return of 14 points seeing them lead Sparta Prague by two points by the end. Their group was far from challenging though, with Sparta Prague being joined by APOEL and Asteras Tripolis. But you can only beat who’s put in front of you, and Schalke managed to do that very well.

In the Bundesliga they aren’t having a particularly spectacular season. They sit in 5^th position after 21 matches, and their return to action following the winter break has seen them win twice and lose twice.

Away from home they have shown the same lack of momentum, with two wins, two defeats, and a draw in their last five away days in all competitions.

Shakhtar Donetsk do have a good squad, but I think they’re going to struggle for creativity without Teixeira, and this will give Schalke a great chance to shut them out. I’m expecting the Germans to get something from this game, and odds of 7/10 for a Schalke Win or Draw Double Chance look good to me. I’m going for a 2-1 Schalke win at 10/1 as well.