Celtic vs Shakhtar Donetsk Match Preview

Celtic hosts Shakhtar Donetsk in the fifth matchday of the sixth group of the UEFA Champions League.

The home side is coming from a spectacular away win over Hearts after prevailing 3-4 on Saturday. This was their tenth win in eleven league games which keeps them at the top of the table, four points clear of second-placed Rangers. On the contrary, in the UEFA Champions League, Celtic are at the bottom of the standings with just one point in four games, that is, four less than their opponent Shakhtar, which they must win to hope for qualification even in the Europa League.

The visitors, on the other hand, are more rested since their last game was on Wednesday where they beat Kolos 3-0 and made it six consecutive wins in the domestic league where they have won all matches with the exception of the 0-0 draw in the opener at home against Metalist. They are third-placed in the UEFA Champions League, one point behind Leipzig, whom they will host in the last match of the group stage. If they don't lose to Celtic then they will retain full hopes of qualifying for the next stage.

Taking into account the above, I expect the home team to be aggressive since any other result other than victory will be disastrous, something that seems pretty convenient for the Ukrainians who are very dangerous on the counterattack as they have already shown against Real. I will stake 3 units on the double chance X2 at pretty decent 2.05 odds.