Feyenoord vs Shakhtar – Analysis, Prediction, Team News

As part of our Europa League Predictions, we take a look at the second leg of the round of 16 tie between Feyenoord and Shakhtar. Feyenoord dominated the first leg but could only draw – can they finish the job? Read on with our Feyenoord vs Shakhtar prediction.

Feyenoord vs Shakhtar Match Preview

Despite the 1-1 scoreline, Feyenoord will feel aggrieved not to be returning to Rotterdam with a first-leg lead. The truth of the matter is, Shakhtar rode their luck for long periods of the match and converted the one shot on target they had. Sometimes this happens in football, so congratulations if you backed Shakhtar to get a result – however, 9 times out of 10 they lose that match so it wouldn’t have been a wise bet. However, as poor as Shakhtar were, the fact of the matter is that the scoreline is, in fact, 1-1, and football results don’t respect who played the better football or who deserved what.

At the weekend, Feyenoord continued their unbeaten streak in 2023 with a 2-1 victory over FC Volendam that was more difficult than it needed to be. Though they put their opponents under plenty of pressure, generating 77% possession and eight shots on target, it was an own goal approximately 20 minutes from full time which sealed the win for Arne Slot’s men. This highlights a potential issue in recent weeks for Feyenoord – can they turn their dominance into goals? Which, after all, is what counts in football when all is said and done.

We highlight this issue because before the first leg of this round of 16 Europa League tie, Feyenoord played Groningen at home and despite having 71% possession and 23 efforts at goal, it took them 88 minutes to make the breakthrough against a relegation-threatened side who were reduced to 10 men early in the second half. Clearly, this goes some way to demonstrating that Feyenoord are having a few issues in front of goal, which is perhaps to be expected with such a young team.

While Shakhtar won comfortably on the weekend with a 3-0 away victory over Kryvbas, their domestic performances aren’t the yardstick by which the Ukranians are judged. For instance, their opponents that day, despite sitting in 7th position from 16 teams, have scored just 12 goals in 17 games and there is a huge divide between the haves and have-nots in the division. So while Shakhtar are once again in the ascendency following Dnipro-1’s slump in form saw them drop 8 points in three matches, unfortunately, there’s not much to take from that match coming into this one except that for long periods Shakhtar struggled to create chances.

Team News

Injuries and Suspensions

Feyenoord:

Might Not Play: Jahanbakhsh

Will Not Play: Bijlow, Timber, Walemark

Shakhtar:

Might Not Play: Shved

Will Not Play: Korniienko

Feyenoord vs Shakhtar Lineups (Predicted)

Shakhtar: (4-3-3): Trubin; Konoplya, Matviienko, Bondar, Mykhaylichenko; Stepanenko, Bondarenko, Sudakov; Kryskiv, Zubkov, Shved

Feyenoord (4-2-3-1): Wellenreuther; Hartman, Hancko, Geertruida, Pedersen; Wieffer, Kokcu; Idrissi, Syzmanski, Jahanbakhsh; Gimenez

Our Prediction

When predicting football matches, sometimes the result is in the lap of the gods. We can predict with some certainty that Feyenoord will be the dominant team here. The real question is, can they convert this dominance into goals to put the tie beyond Shakhtar? Feyenoord are one of the higher-scoring teams in the Europa League. However, six of those goals came in one match against Sturm Graz.

While we’re not suggesting for a moment that those goals don’t count, it’s consistency that wins matches over the longer term. Feyenoord are indeed unbeaten in 2023, but in a match like this, it’s their ability to break down obdurate opponents that will come into question. Shakhtar showed very little in the first game, yet despite that, they’re here with a 1-1 draw and a chance to reach the last eight.

The last time Feyenoord failed to score at home was in their opening home match against Heerenveen in a 0-0 draw, and since then they’ve played against Lazio, Ajax and PSV and scored against them all – it’s extremely unlikely that Shakhtar will keep a clean sheet. Given the chances that were created against them, we’re going to back Feyenoord to start taking them.

Shakhtar will have three first-choice defenders returning following their suspensions for the first leg, so we back their defence to keep them in the game and we also back them to be able to score against the run of play again, as they did against Feyenoord in the first leg and also in the second leg against Rennes. However, we now expect their luck to run out and with it their presence in the competition.

Feyenoord 3-1 Shakhtar

Feyenoord vs Shakhtar Betting Tip – Feyenoord Odds: