Shakhter Donetsk vs Benfica Prediction and Betting Preview 20 Feb 2020

Here's our Shakhtar Donetsk vs Benfica Prediction analysis: Shakhter Donetsk vs Benfica Prediction

These two sides who were plying their continental football trade in the UEFA Champions League earlier in the campaign have been condemned to Europa League football having failed to lay a major claim in the respective groups.

Match status: 2019/20 Europa League - Play Offs - 1/16-finals
Kick-off: Thursday 20 Feb 2020, 06:55pm CET
 Venue: OSC Metalist (Kharkiv)

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Shakhtar Donetsk, pitted in a group alongside Manchester City and Atalanta, were never really viewed as prospective qualification candidates from Group C. With Manchester City racing to the business end of the log, the Miners were made to tussle with Atalanta for a second-place finish.

However, their Italian counterparts went about their business in enviable fashion, finishing ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk with just a single point.

Now, Luis Castro’s men will be turning out in the disparaged Europa League.

Benfica faced similar fate in Group G of the Champions League as they finished behind the likes of RB Leipzig and Olympique Lyonnais on the standings. Just like their opposition, they were just a single point shy of Champions League knockout stages qualification.

OSC Metalist is expected to be buzzing with excitement when Benfica make the trip to Kharkiv to take on Shakhtar Donetsk in a crunch Europa League fixture on Thursday evening. Expect a very entertaining game between these really good footballing sides.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Benfica Team News

Shakhtar Donetsk slumped to the Europa League after they came in third behind Atalanta in the group stages of the Champions League. The hosts finished with eight points to their name, which was just one fewer than the team above them.

Nevertheless, it is certainly worth mentioning that the home team have been faring well in their campaign overall this season. At the moment, Shakhtar are at the top of the ladder back in the Ukrainian Premier League with a solid ten-point advantage over their nearest foe.

On the other hand, Benfica took their leave from the Champions League after failing to make it into the top two in Group G. Furthermore, to be frank, the visitors only just managed to scrape through to the Europa League.

They were, in fact, level on points with fourth-placed Zenit, and were handed the ticket to Europa, only on goal difference.

To make matters worse, the guests have been a nervous bunch on the road. The Portuguese outfit are winless in their past two outings. And have not come out on top in their any of their previous three trips across Europe as well.

In sharp contrast, Shakhtar have stumbled just once in their domestic clashes here this season. Taking into account that they have also secured the bragging-rights in three of their previous four games at home, the tag of favorites goes to Shakhtar in this one.

However, the hosts were at the losing end of a 2-1 scorecard when they last met this foe here. Considering that Benfica have also shared the spoils in four of their past nine outings, it will be safer to back a double chance this week.

Injured or Suspended Players

Shakhtar Donetsk: Dodo, Dentinho and Solomon.

Benfica: Zivkovic, Jardel, Gabriel, Weigl and Andre Almeida.

Pre-Match Odds

Shakhtar Donetsk: 2.48
Draw: 3.48
Benfica: 3.01

All odds are with 1xBet and are subject to change.
All odds are for Shakhtar Donetsk vs Benfica Predictions with 1xBet and are subject to change.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Benfica Predictions

Benfica have been consistent in getting their names on the scoresheet, in their outings this term. Meanwhile, Shakhtar Donetsk failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their Champions’ League group stage clashes here. Given that both teams also found the back of the net together in their last h2h meeting at this venue, expect the two sides to have their scoring boots on come Thursday as well.