Predictions UEFA Champions League - Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk

UEFA Champions League - Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Match Time: 23-10-2024 02:00 Wednesday (GMT+7)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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Arsenal may have swapped red for blue in one sense against Bournemouth on Saturday evening - debuting their new third kit at the Vitality Stadium - but the Gunners still saw red on the South Coast, as William Saliba became the third Arsenal man to take the walk of shame already this season.

The Frenchman's dismissal for a last-man foul preceded a sublime corner routine goal from Ryan Christie and confident penalty from Justin Kluivert on an evening where nothing went right for a ravaged Arsenal, who were also left to rue a wasted chance from the increasingly profligate Gabriel Martinelli before Christie's opener.

Arsenal's sorry 2-0 defeat on the South Coast saw them squander the chance to temporarily rise to the top of the Premier League standings, but a prime opportunity to return to victorious ways now awaits before next weekend's heavyweight showdown with title rivals Liverpool.

Arteta's men followed up their fortuitous goalless draw with Atalanta BC with a deserved 2-0 success over Paris Saint-Germain on UCL matchday two, as Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka both capitalised on questionable goalkeeping from Gianluigi Donnarumma to register in the first half.

Thirteenth in the League Phase standings at this embryonic stage, Arsenal could now keep three straight clean sheets in the Champions League for the first time since November 2007, and not since September 2015 have they lost a non-knockout game at home in the competition.

While Arsenal just about managed to keep Atalanta at bay on the opening matchday of the Champions League - thanks in no small part to the goalkeeping heroics of David Raya - Shakhtar were powerless to quell the Europa League holders in their last European affair.

Sharing the same fate as Bayer Leverkusen, Marino Pusic's side succumbed to an Ademola Lookman masterclass in a 3-0 beatdown; the ex-Fulham man set up Berat Djimsiti before scoring himself in the first half, and Raoul Bellanova put the cherry on top early in the second 45.

Shakhtar's heavy defeat to Atalanta came after their uninspiring goalless draw against Bologna on matchday one; the teams are two of four still waiting for their first goal of the 2024-25 Champions League, the others being Red Bull Salzburg and BSC Young Boys.

However, Pusic's side have strung together back-to-back wins in the Ukrainian top flight since their last European defeat, thumping LNZ Cherkasy 5-1 before edging out Kolos Kovalivka 1-0 on Friday, although they only prevailed courtesy of an Ilir Krasniqi own goal.

Shakhtar's wildly inconsistent start to 2024-25 means that they are only fourth in the Ukrainian Premier League rankings, and both of their previous visits to Arsenal have ended in defeat, most recently a 5-1 slaughter in 2010 - ex-Gunner Eduardo scored their consolation goal that day.

Prediction: Arsenal 3-0 Shakhtar Donetsk