Shakhtar Donetsk vs FC Porto prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-09-18 19:00.
Patrick van Leeuwen may still remain unbeaten as Shakhtar Donetsk manager, but he insists that there’s more to come from his squad as they get their UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign underway. The frustrated head coach stated that his players “didn’t play the biggest game” during a 1-0 victory over Obolon on Saturday because they were “already thinking about Porto.”
Even so, that was a fifth victory in the league this season for the Miners (D2), who have already opened up a handy gap at the top of the Ukrainian Premier League standings. They’ll now be hoping to carry that form into Europe, where they’ll need to end a dismal run of one win in 13 UCL outings (D6, L6) if they’re to reach the UCL knock-out stages for the first time since 2018. With the game being played at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion due to the war in Ukraine, Shakhtar don’t even have home advantage to fall back upon in this clash.
History suggests the venue shouldn’t make a difference for visiting Porto, given they’ve never lost across six previous H2Hs (W3, D3). The Portuguese outfit, who won the competition way back in 2003/04, will be keen for that trend to continue here as they attempt to win their opening UCL group game for the first time since 2014 (D4, L3 since).
Domestic results suggest that the Dragons have a good chance of ending that record, as they find themselves on a run of four wins in five matches (D1). The most recent of those was a 1-0 success away to Estrela on Friday night, a performance that “satisfied” manager Sérgio Conceição, mostly because his side kept their first clean sheet of the campaign.
Key battle: Shakhtar will be hoping that striker Danylo Sikan is on form, given he has never lost a game in which he has scored (W10, D2). Looking to put a stop to him will be goalkeeper Diogo Costa who has kept four clean sheets in his last six UCL appearances for Porto (W4, D1, L1).
Hot stat: Only three of Porto’s last 11 UCL games have seen both teams score.