The UEFA Champions League group phase continues this week, so take a look at our tips and predictions for the Group F matches. With plenty of picks and markets to choose from, don’t waste your time and join the action at Get More Sports.
Feyenoord (Ned) vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr)
Three-Way: 1: Feyenoord +245; X: +265 Draw; 2: Shakhtar Donetsk +129
Spread +0.5: Feyenoord -132; Shakhtar Donetsk +123
Total +2.5: Over -128; Under +124
FEYENOORD
The Dutch champions are facing a tough task on Tuesday as they welcome Shakhtar, as only a win could keep their Champions League hopes alive. Feyenoord lost the first two matches to Man City and Napoli, and although it is hard to expect them to advance to the knockout stage, The Club on the Meuse can reach the Europa League, though, but they need three points at De Kuip. Feyenoord suffered four defeats in the last seven games, so their form is far from good at the moment. The latest home draw with Zwolle left them in the 3rd place in Eredivisie with five points behind leaders PSV.
Feyenoord has played 12 games so far in the 2017/18, recording seven wins, a draw, and four losses, with a goal difference of 22:14, which is precisely three goals per contest on average. They failed to score in the previous two matches at De Kuip, and that is quite concerning for Giovanni van Bronckhorst, and of course, encouraging for the visitors, but I believe they will be able to find the way to the Shakhtar’s net.
Steven Berghuis is currently the team’s top scorer with seven goals to his name, while Jens Toornstra and Jean-Paul Boetius are following him with three each. Boetius is the most creative individual with three assists, and he, Berghuis, and Tonny Vilhena must be closed down in order to prevent Feyenoord from scoring. The centre-backs Jan-Arie van der Heijden and Eric Botteghin are out with injuries, while another defender, Renato Tapia, also sustained an injury in a game with Zwolle last weekend so Van Bronckhorst will have lots of defensive troubles in a clash with the Ukrainian champions. The goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer is sidelined with a knee injury as he still didn’t play a single match this season.
SHAKHTAR DONETSK
The Miners are at the top of the Ukrainian Premier League with seven points ahead of their arch-rivals Dynamo Kiev. A surprising win over Napoli in the Champions League put them in a good situation to compete with the Italians for the second place in the group F. Shakhtar did lose at Man City, but the Citizens are one of the favorites to win the competition, so that defeat was kind of expected. They won the following two league games and the bookies are giving them slightly better chances to secure three points at De Kuip.
Shakhtar played 15 games in the 2017/18 campaign, recording 12 victories, a draw, and two losses, with a goal difference of 33:15, which is 3.20 goals per contest on average. When it comes to away games, Shakhtar have only one defeat, to Man City, and only failed to score twice so far, so I believe they will score at least one here.
Facundo Ferreyra is the team’s leading scorer with 11 goals to his name, and the Argentinean striker has been in an excellent form this year, while the right-winger Marlos has six goals so far. The left-back Ismaily is currently at the top of assist chart with five dishes, while the Brazilian Taison and the captain Darijo Srna recorded four assists each. Srna should be back into contention following his return from special leave; the centre-back Sergiy Kryvtsov and midfielder Maksym Malyshev are out with respective knee injuries.
Feyenoord (Ned) vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr) – Match Prediction
Feyenoord must attack from the very start and try to score an early goal, but I am pretty sure they will concede minimum one, so I would go with both teams to score here.
MY PICK: Both teams to score YES (-149)
Manchester City (Eng) vs. Napoli (Ita)
Three-Way: 1: Man City -147; X: +375 Draw; 2: Napoli +480
Spread -1: Man City +104; Napoli -104
Total +3.5: Over -104; Under +100
MANCHESTER CITY
The Citizens are the best team in England at the moment as they are on a nine-match winning streak, and the latest 7:2 thrashing of Stoke City proved that they don’t miss Sergio Aguero at all. It was the fourth time this season that Man City scored five or more goals in a single game, and with this red-hot form, they must be considered as favorites against Napoli. Gabriel Jesus stepped in a lead role with a pair of goals in Stoke’s net, while Raheem Sterling was also influential with a goal and pair of assists.
Manchester City played 11 games so far in this season, recording ten wins and just one draw, with a goal difference of 39:5, which is exactly four goals per contest on average. Watching Man City is never boring, and I am expecting to see a bunch of goals on this one as well. Twenty of 39 goals came at Etihad, so Napoli will have a mountain to climb to keep their net intact. These rivals met in the 2011/12 season in the UEFA Champions League; the first clash in Manchester ended 1:1, and Napoli won 2:1 in Italy.
Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling joined Aguero at the top of the goal-scoring chart with seven goals each, while Leroy Sane is right behind them with six goals to his name. David Silva is still the best assist-maker with eight; Kevin De Bruyne has six, while Kyle Walker recorded four assists thus far. Benjamin Mendy is done for the season with cruciate ligament rupture, and Sergio Aguero is sidelined with a ribs injury, but the captain Vincent Kompany is close to returning to the pitch as he’s recovering from a calf setback.
NAPOLI
The Partenopei are also in an excellent form as their only loss came at Shakhtar in the Champions League, and since that defeat, Napoli won six straight matches, scoring 20 goals in the process. The latest 1:0 win over Roma in the Italian capital gave them two point-lead ahead of Inter, and five points ahead of Juventus and Lazio. Although the Citizens are favorites on Tuesdays Champions League clash, Napoli is playing fantastic football, and anything could happen at Etihad.
Napoli played 12 games in the 2017/18, recording 11 victories and only one loss, with a goal difference of 34:8, which is 3.5 goals per contest on average. Considering excellent goal-scoring records of both teams, we could witness a high-scoring affair, so I am anticipating a quite entertaining clash. The Italians scored at least one goal in each of the previous six away matches, and I would be surprised if they don’t score against City.
The fantastic Belgian Dries Mertens is the team’s top scorer with nine goals to his name so far, and the forward is also the leading assist-maker with five dishes, the same number as Lorenzo Insigne, who scored a winning goal at Roma. Jose Callejon with six and Insigne with five goals are behind Mertens on a goal-scoring chart, while the Spaniard and the left-back Faouzi Ghoulam added four assists each. The Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik is the only injured player at the moment, and he will miss the big chunk of the campaign due to a cruciate ligament rupture.
Manchester City (Eng) vs. Napoli (Ita) –Match Prediction
With plenty of attacking talent on both sides, I can only expect to see goals, and I believe both teams will score here.
MY PICK: Over 3.5 goals (-104)
