Dinamo Zagreb vs Shakhtar Donetsk Predictions

With Atalanta struggling in the Champions League, there’s an opening for either Dinamo Zagreb or Shakhtar Donetsk. The visitors were expected to fight for second anyway, but the Croatian side are impressing with their results and that’s put them in the mix for the last 16. Can they continue their good form on Wednesday night?

Dinamo won in the league at the weekend to keep their four point lead domestically, while they are second in this group after three games. A 2-2 draw with Shakhtar in Ukraine has left them in pole position to qualify behind runaway leaders City. Can they secure their position with a home victory?

Shakhtar have mirrored Dinamo’s results so far: a win over Atalanta, a loss to City and a point last time out. They are a high scoring side who have blasted their way to top spot in the Ukrainian Premier League, but their defensive displays in Europe are enough to raise a few concerns.

The visitors head into this one having shipped six goals in their opening three group stage games. They have a history of issues at the back, having conceded twice in each of their group stage trips last term. Seven of their last nine outings in this competition have seen them concede two or more, which should give hope to the hosts.

Dinamo haven’t just hit two at Shakhtar, they also put four goals past Atalanta in their only home game in this group. Having started in the second qualifying round of this competition, Dinamo have scored 10 times in four matches here, while we expect them to go out in search of goals against a poor Shakhtar defence.

Given the visitors’ recent form at the back, we think they could struggle in this potentially decisive clash. The hosts have shown that they pack a punch up front and they’ve not looked out of their depth at this level. With the visitors coming here with a history of high scoring matches, we think that backing over 1.5 Dinamo Team Goals is the way to go in this one.

We can see Dinamo building on their 4-0 victory here against Atalanta by pulling off another victory. They were able to go toe to toe with the Ukrainian side in the away meeting, while home advantage should push the hosts over the line. We are backing a 3-2 victory for Dinamo as our correct score pick.