Shakhtar Donetsk vs FC Basel 1893 Prediction & Betting Tips - Europa League

Prediction published on 08/07/2020, 08:20  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 08/08/2020 at 08:25 in Europa League Predictions

Shakhtar Donetsk will face off with Basel in the last eight of the Europa League in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday in the new format of the competition. The two sides registered back to back wins in their round of 16 ties and will be looking to proceed in this one-off tie. Shakhtar dropped to the Europa League after finishing third in Group C of the Champions League which had Manchester City and Atalanta and they have been among the strongest sides in the competition. They saw off Wolfsburg home and away in the last 16 and will hope their fine scoring returns extend to this clash. Shakhtar have scored two or more in each of their last four Europa League matches and will not be troubled by playing at a neutral venue, having already done so due to the ongoing unrest in the Donbass region in Ukraine. As they prepare for this game, Shakhtar will however be without defender Davit Khocholava who is suspended.

On the other hand, Basel saw off Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 on aggregate after back to back wins in the last round and will hope to carry on here. This game presents the Swiss side with a fine opportunity for revenge after their 7-1 aggregate loss to Shakhtar in the Champions League in 2008. Basel head here with one win in their last four matches; they had drawn three straight matches ahead of the win over Frankfurt but they have not lost any of their last eight matches. In their last three matches, Basel have kept straight clean sheets and have five straight wins in Europa League, all with clean sheets. The Swiss side has won 3-0 in both their last two away matches in the competition, beating APOEL and Frankfurt and will have the advantage of having played more competitive matches in recent times.