Shakhtar Donetsk - Marseille predictions and free betting tips [15/02/2024]

On Thursday, February 15th, the first leg of the Europa League's round of 32 will see Shakhtar Donetsk take on Marseille on neutral ground. Shakhtar Donetsk, the reigning champions of Ukraine, finished third in their Champions League group, whilst Gennaro Gattuso's charges made it to the playoff stage from second place.

Predicted Line-ups

Shakhtar Donetsk: Riznyk; Gocholeishvili, Bondar, Lemkin, Matvienko; Stepanenko; Zubkov, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Eguinaldo; Sikan.
Marseille: Lopez; Clauss, Mbemba, Balerdi, Merlin; Ounahi, Onana, Harit; Ndiaye, Aubameyang, Correa.

Stadium

The match will be held in Hamburg at the Volksparkstadion.

Shakhtar Donetsk

Shakhtar Donetsk posted worthy results in the Champions League: Marino Pusic's apprentices registered three wins and some losses in matches with Porto, Barcelona, and Antwerp. Notably, they pulled off a real sensation by beating Barcelona in the fourth round with a score of 1:0, and also won twice against Antwerp.

The nine points they earned were the best record among all eight teams that dropped into the Europa League from the main continental championship. Shakhtar Donetsk were very active this winter in the transfer market: the Ukrainian squad, already quite young, boosted its ranks once again with young talents. 

Marseille

Marseille had a very tough January, which can be explained by the large number of personnel losses. Gennaro Gattuso's pupils played against Strasbourg and Rennes in the French Cup and Monaco, while 7 players went to play for their national teams in the African Nations Cup. In the squad of the French club on Thursday will be absent midfielder Rongier, who is still recovering from a knee injury, left lateral Muriel and young defensive midfielder Nadir. Additionally, key midfielders Kondogbia, Veretu and Senegalese defensive midfielder Gueye are settled in the infirmary.

Direct encounters

In the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup 2008-09, Shakhtar Donetsk beat Marseille on aggregate 4:1.

Prediction for Shakhtar Donetsk vs Marseille match

Shakhtar Donetsk has not played in official matches for more than eight weeks and surely is not in optimal physical condition. Of course, Gattuso's charges have had a rough few weeks and do not know the victories in five recent games in all competitions, but gradually the previously inaccessible team leaders are coming back into action. Betting on the victory of the French club with a handicap of 0 looks confident.

Total forecast

Marseille scored just one goal in the last two matches, while Shakhtar Donetsk has not played in official competitions for a long time and will not force events. I bet on the total goals under 3.

Corner prediction

Neither of them will reveal themselves and throw all their strength into the attack - the main battle will unfold in the centre of the field. I set the total corners under 9.5.

Yellow cards prediction

Both teams earn just two warnings per match on average, so I'm betting on the total yellow cards under 4.5.

Score forecast

I'll bet on the exact score 0:1 in favour of Marseille.