SHAKHTAR DONETSK v HOFFENHEIM
Wednesday 19th September 2018 – Kickoff: 1855hrs
Football – Europe – Champions League Betting Tips
Onto Group F and Ukrainian outfit, Shakhtar Donetsk, hold home advantage when taking on German club Hoffenheim as the betting tips continue in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The venue is the Donbass Arena where the hosts will be looking to pick up where they left their league form as Shakhtar are currently enjoying an impressive run of five wins on the trot in the Ukraine Premier League.
This recent winning streak has lifted them to the top of the domestic top flight and needless to say, the hosts will be in a confident frame of mind as they look to get their Champions League campaign off to a winning start this evening.
The hosts have also won their last five Champions League matches on the trot with wins over Young Boys, Napoli, Feyenoord, Manchester City and Roma – a fine collection of scalps for the Ukrainian side! Look out for midfielder Marios (5 goals) and forward Moraes (7 goals) as the main goal threats for the home side.
German club, Hoffenheim, face a tall order when they make their way over to Donetsk for this Group F opener against seasoned a seasoned Champions League side, not least because it’s their first ever outing in the group stages of this competition, but also because they’re set to be missing a number of players.
Hoffenheim manager, Julian Nagelsmann could be without the services of up to ten players for this important clash which is not great preparation for their first foray into unchartered territory of this season’s Champions League.
The German club have also posted mixed results domestically as they’ve registered wins over Kaiserslautern in the DFB Pokal and Freiburg in the Bundesliga but have also fallen to defeats at Bayern Munich and Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Their only previous appearance in the Champions League was a play-off defeat to Liverpool in a heavy 6-3 defeat last season.
This should be a Shakhtar win here, but my betting tips suggest a little caution and give the quarter-ball on the hosts.
Pick: Shakhtar Donetsk AH-0.25 @ 1.73 Bet Victor
