SHAKHTAR DEONETSK must beat RB Leipzig on Wednesday evening if they are to leapfrog them into second spot in Champions League Group F.
Igor Jovicevic's side have amassed six points from their opening five pool fixtures, the most recent of which were collected courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Celtic at Parkhead last Tuesday.
That means the Ukrainian giants have guaranteed themselves European football after the World Cup break, but they remain firmly in the mix to reach the knockout round for the first time since 2017-18.
Howevr, Shakhtar's preparations for this make-or-break Matchday Six showdown were far from ideal, after being held to a 2-2 draw at home against FC Oleksandriya on Friday.
After starting their Champions League campaign with back-to-back defeats, RB Leipzig have roared back with three successive victories to charge into second place in the section, meaning they only need a point in Poland to be sure of a place in the last 16.
Days after their remarkable 3-2 win over Real Madrid last midweek, Marco Rose's men made light of Bayer Leverkusen with a 2-0 win on Saturday to move into the top-six of the Bundesliga.
Outright Betting
Despite romping to a 4-1 victory in September's reverse fixture, Shakhtar Donetsk enter this contest as 9/2 (Betfred) underdogs while a point apiece has been priced up at 16/5 (Bet 365).
RB Leipzig are odds-on 4/6 favourites with SBK to record what would be a fourth Group F victory on the bounce.
Betting Angles
Given that goals are usually on the agenda when RB Leipzig are involved, I'm happy to take the 9/10 with Bet 365 on this fixture featuring Over 2.75 Goals.
This selection would deliver a half-stakes profit should exactly three goals be scored at the Polish Army Stadium, with a full winner paid-out if the game generates four or more strikes.
As already mentioned, Igor Jovicevic's men will have to throw caution to the wind at some stage here as only a win will do if they secure their place in the last 16, highlighting the appeal to support a high-scoring contest in the Polish capital.
However the hosts’ being in greater need of all three points on Wednesday evening could leave them susceptible to conceding on the counter against a Leipzig side that boast a plethora of attacking weapons within their armoury.
That is evidenced by the fact that Marco Rose's side have scored two or more goals in each of their last six matches across all competitions, not to mention three of their five Group F fixtures have yielded a minimum of four match strikes combined, one of which was when the pair met in Saxony.
With this in mind, coupled the aforementioned state of play in the section, siding with Over 2.75 Goals at 9/10 (Bet 365) seems like a sensible solution as Group D reaches its dramatic climax.
One player who could have the quality to exploit Shakhtar Donetsk's defensive weaknesses is Christopher Nkunku who has been priced up at 13/8 with Bet 365 to get on the scoresheet.
The French forward has notched in each of his last three appearances for Leipzig and he could get more joy in front of goal against a Shakhtar side that have failed to file a clean sheet in five Group F outings thus far.
This UEFA Champions League match between Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig will be played on Nov 2, 2022 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Shakhtar Donetsk vs RB Leipzig prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
