Shakhtar Donetsk vs Manchester City Predictions

Groundhog Day has come back around for Shakhtar Donetsk, with them set to face off with Manchester City in the Champions League group stages for the third successive season. Previous iterations haven’t gone very well for the Ukrainians, and there is little to suggest anything will be changing this time around.

Shakhtar may have romped to the Ukrainian Premier League title by a 9 point margin last year, but Manchester City pose a much more tangible threat than any of their domestic opposition. Last season’s group stage meetings saw Manchester City win both matches by an aggregate scoreline of 9-0, and their only success against The Citizens came on match-day 6 of the 2017/18 campaign against a heavily rotated squad.

The hosts aren’t quite as bad as Manchester City make them seem though. Pep Guardiola’s men have been responsible for 3 of their 5 defeats in the last 2 seasons of Champions League football, but even when they’re collecting points, there are still big question marks over their defence.

Shakhtar Donetsk have conceded in each of their last 14 Champions League games, shipping 27 goals in total and 13 against Man City. Their last competitive outing saw them concede 3 at home to Zorya on Saturday too, so they could be in for another mauling on Wednesday.

Manchester City aren’t in the best form of their lives right now and seem to be suffering badly from the loss of Aymeric Laporte at the back. However, this defensive weakness hasn’t harmed their threat at the other end of the pitch, with 16 goals scored in just 5 Premier League matches so far.

Their first ever Champions League crown may be eluding them, but they have been demolition experts in the earlier stages of the competition since Guardiola’s arrivals. They have scored at least 3 goals in 5 of their last 8 Champions League games, and considering the history between these sides, we think backing them to do so again looks a good price here.

Laporte may have been sorely missed against Norwich on Saturday, but Shakhtar have only managed 1 goal in their 4 previous meetings with Manchester City. We’re expecting another routine win for the visitors here, and a 3-0 correct score prediction looks the best option on offer.