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FC Porto hosts Shakhtar Donetsk in a meaningless game in Group H of the Champions League. Porto will finish first and Shakhtar will finish second in the standings. Earlier in the group Shakhtar held a 2-0 lead over Porto in the 90th minute but Porto made an incredible comeback to finish with a 2-2 result.
Porto playing like crazy at the moment, have 7 wins and 1 draw in the last 8 games … the last 6 victories came without the opponents scoring a goal. Sure there were also some games in the Portugese Cup in this run but fact is Porto is playing great. But today they might be a little off their usual pace … Porto has a big game vs. Benfica Lisbon coming up on Sunday so coach Lopetegui will probably rest some starters. Good team news though … they have zero injuries so they have room to shuffle the squad.
Bet on Porto vs. Shakhtar with the highest Champions League odds at Pinnacle.
Shakhtar was defeated 0-1 by Bilbao last round and thus lost any chance for the first place in this group; but even so their results have been impressive considering the problems in Ukraine and that they had to play their matches away from Donetsk, also sold important players in the summer. Shakhtar plays nice offensive football and are coming after a good win in Ukraine, 4-1 on Friday, but of course Champions League is different level … team news for today say Shakhtar will not have Luiz Adriano, Srna and Kucher (all suspended) and Azevedo is a doubt. Coach Lucescu will not make other changes in the team because they do not have other important games in Ukraine.
I like Shakhtar a lot in this game. Porto played a little more mature football in this competition and maybe they are a little bit better as a team, but they will rest some players and don’t have so much motivation. For the Ukrainian side Champions League football is all they play for, so will try to get something here even if they can’t advance in the standings and for sure have the quality to do it. My tip is Shakhtar +0,5 handicap. I think it will finish in a draw but if Porto shuffles the squad too much Shakhtar might well win … even if they miss 3 key players themselves. Correct score prediction: FC Porto – Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1.
Pick: Shakhtar (+0,5 handicap)
Odds: 2.08 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 7.56
Event date: 10 December
