This match sees the top and bottom of Europa League Group H come together as Shakhtar Donetsk, who have already secured top spot, host Konyaspor for whom it would take a miracle to qualify for the knockout rounds.
Shakhtar Donetsk have blitzed their way through the Europa League so far having won all four of their matches, scoring 13 goals (joint-top with Zenit St. Petersburg) and conceding just three. The Ukrainian side of course won this competition under legendary manager Mircea Lucescu back in 2009 and repeating this feat is most certainly the aim for 2017.
Of course it is not just in Europe where Shakhtar are doing well and, unsurprisingly, Paulo Fonseca’s side top the Ukrainian Premier League by some distance (eight points) after 15 games and are likely to clinch yet another Ukrainian title this season. Additionally, the Miners are still yet to lose domestic game all season, dropping points just twice.
Although they have already qualified from the group, we can expect no let-up or sympathy from Shakhtar and they could give Konyaspor a real pummeling on Thursday night. This is a side who have won all but one of their competitive games at home this season.
Turkish side Konyaspor are newcomers to European football and this has certainly been reflected in their form. Aykut Kocaman’s team have secured just one point in their four group games.
They can still mathematically qualify from Group H but it requires them to win both of their remaining fixtures whilst relying upon others to drop points – a highly unlikely scenario. Still it has been a good learning curve for Konyaspor and maybe they will come back stronger one day.
However, this looks unlikely to happen anytime in the near future with the side from Konya struggling in the Turkish Super Lig, where they sit sixth and five points off the European spots. Form has picked up a bit recently with two wins on the spin but we are not likely to see them repeat their excellent third place finish last season.
Furthermore, Konyaspor’s away record is terrible having lost half of their eight matches on the road in all competitions, picking up just two victories on their travels this season. Hardly a confidence booster when you are travelling to one of the toughest venues in European football.
Unfortunately for the Turks this has a Shakhtar thrashing written all over it. I tipped a similar result in the Ukrainian side’s last Europa League match against Belgian side KAA Gent and I think we will see a repeat here.
With this in mind, I’m all over ‘Shakhtar Donetsk to Win & Over 3.5 Goals’ at a more-than doubling 11/5. Whilst having such a large number of goals may be perceived as risky, I really do not think it is here and I expect Shakhtar to be scoring that many themselves. The Miners have scored five goals in their last two European fixtures and it would not surprise me if Konyaspor found themselves conceding the same number as Gent did.
I would also advise punters to look at ‘Shakhtar Donetsk to Win to Nil’ at 11/10. I am incredibly surprised that, given the gulf between the two sides, an odds-against price is offered here. The Ukrainians have won and kept clean sheets in five out of their last seven matches whilst Konyaspor have had just one shutout in their last 13 matches.
To complete the ‘pro-Shakhtar treble’ I would go with ‘Shakhtar Donetsk to Win Both Halves’ at 19/10. Paulo Fonseca’s team are undoubtedly superior to their Turkish counterparts and they should be winning both halves pretty comfortably here – just like they did against Gent in their last European home match. Additionally, they also won both halves of their other Europa League home game this season, against Braga, and so I expect them to make it three out of three on Thursday.
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