H2H: Dinamo Zagreb vs. Shakhtar Donetsk – Prediction (Champions League

Preview and Teams Comparison.

Dinamo Zagreb are winless in three European matches against Shakhtar Donetsk (W0 D1 L2), losing two UEFA Champions League qualifiers in August 2008 and drawing 2-2 on MD3 this season.

The only match Dinamo Zagreb haven’t won across their previous six competitive fixtures was a 2-2 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in their last UEFA Champions League (UCL) encounter. What’s more, the Croatian champions are on a six-game winning run ‘to nil’ at home, leading at half-time in four of those fixtures. Zagreb’s Mislav Oršić has scored four UCL goals this term – each of the last five competitive games he’s scored in involved over 3.5 goals. Although slight favourites to win here, Zagreb have lost 28 of their previous 39 UCL group stage games (W5, D6), but with eight clean sheets from their last ten competitive home matches and not one first-half goal conceded at home since March, their solid defence could prove the game-winner here.

Zagreb’s last eight UCL victories came ‘to nil’. All three previous competitive H2Hs saw a first-half opener, two before the 20th minute. Eight of Shakhtar’s last nine UCL games ended with over 2.5 goals.

Shakhtar have travelled well recently, and are unbeaten within 90 minutes in their last 17 competitive away games (W15, D2 – excluding neutral venues), with an impressive 13 of those fixtures seeing the Ukrainians record a clean sheet. They’ll be especially keen to start well, considering their last seven away victories saw at least one Shakhtar goal before half-time. Shakhtar’s top league scorer, Júnior Moraes (11 goals), has scored his team’s first goal in the last three competitive games he’s found the net. However with just two victories from their last ten UCL games (D4, L4), this could be a tough test for the ‘Pitmen’. Those two wins saw both teams score, as did their last seven victories in the UCL, however their previous eight defeats in this tournament came ‘to nil’.