Marseille vs Shakhtar Donetsk prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-02-21 20:00.
Following a thrilling 2-2 draw in the first-leg in which Marseille blew a lead twice and a 1-0 defeat to Brest at the weekend, the hierarchy felt that they had no choice but to sack manager Gennaro Gattuso ahead of this all-important second leg. Incoming boss Jean-Louis Gasset must now try to improve Marseilleâs winless record in all but one of their historical clashes with Ukrainian sides (W1, D4, L2) and snap their current run of seven competitive outings without a win (D4, L3).
The Olympiansâ only victory in the aforementioned H2H streak did come at home (W1, D1, L1), whilst theyâve lost just two of their last 15 European home games (W9, D4) which should serve as a confidence boost at least. Zooming in on that home form paints a very promising picture for Marseille too, with the club unbeaten in each of their last eight UEFA sanctioned home knockout matches (W7, D1), although a recent run of three straight home draws In Ligue 1 ahead of this raises the possibility of penalties.
Visiting Shakhtar Donetsk didnât have a league game to worry about over the weekend with the Ukrainian league set to resume later this month, so their full focus can be directed towards improving their positive European record against French opposition (W9, D6, L5). That record remains positive when looking at the away games only (W5, D1, L4) and having knocked out French side Rennes at this stage last season, the visitors will pay their underdog status no attention.
Despite their respectable history against the French, Shakhtar do head here on the back of eight defeats across their last 11 European road trips (W2, D1, L8). Another ominous observation is that the visitors have also drawn four UEFA knockout ties 2-2 in the home first leg, but have pertinently never progressed from any of those when doing so.
Players to watch: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyangâs goal in the reverse put him level with Radamel Falcao as the UELâs all-time top scorer (G30), a record he can claim outright with another strike here. Shakhtarâs Oleksandr Zubkov memorably scored home and away against Real Madrid last season, and four of his five scoring appearances this term saw his side win âto nilâ.
Hot stat: Marseille have progressed from 14 of their 15 UEFA ties when drawing the first leg away from home.