Shakhtar vs Inter: The Italians to get three points in a high-scoring game

In their five-match rivalry history, Shakhtar have never managed to beat Inter. Will the Miners be able to break this unlucky streak now? We predict that the Italian champions will be stronger again!

Last season Shakhtar Donetsk missed out on the title, having missed out on Dynamo Kyiv, therefore to qualify for the Champions League group stage, the Miners had to overcome Genk and Monaco, which they did. Once in the main continental club tournament, Roberto De Zerbi’s charges had to face the main outsider in Group D Sheriff, but the Ukrainians failed to beat the Moldovans 0-2. This defeat drastically reduced Shakhtar’s chances of closing out the group. Still, it was extra motivation for the players who defeated Mariupol and Veres 5-0 and 4-1 in the local league, respectively, and in the battle for the Super Cup of Ukraine, they dealt with Dinamo 3-0.

Inter won the long-awaited Serie A title at the end of last season. Still, they had to deal with financial difficulties, which meant they had to part ways with coach Antonio Conte and star players Ashraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku. Despite these severe losses, the Bianconeri have maintained their excellent start to the Italian season with four wins, two draws, and a goal difference of 20 - 7. That’s an astounding result! Alas, Simone Inzaghi’s side is having a less successful UEFA Champions League campaign as they suffered a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in the first leg, leaving them at risk of missing the knockout phase of Europe’s top club competition once again.

Shakhtar and Inter have played each other a lot in European competitions, and in the current Champions League, they started with defeats to Sheriff and Real Madrid, respectively. A failure in the upcoming game will be an absolute disaster for them, so now the teams must show their best football. In this situation, the clear favourites are the Black and Blue, who are simply more vital than their opponent, they have a more solid selection of players, and even in the game with Real Madrid, they had a good chance of success while the Miners failed in Moldova. As a result, we are inclined to bet on Inter’s victory with a handicap (-1.5) for 2.56.

The last time Shakhtar and Inter met in the Champions League group stage and both sides drew 0-0. It is important to note that Antonio Conte was in charge of the Milan club at that time. Keeping a zero scoreline on conceded goals was much more critical, with the attacking moves being of secondary importance. In Simone Inzaghi’s case, the situation is markedly different, as evidenced by his charges’ performance in Serie A, where they scored 20 goals in six games (3.33 goals per game on average). After the defeat from Sheriff, the Donetsk club has scored 12 goals in three games (4.00 per game on average), so the best option for the prediction seems to be Total Over 3.5 goals for 2.43.

Edin Dzeko is an excellent striker by the standards of the Italian Serie A. He became bored in recent years at Roma, where he was more in conflict than playing football, so he only scored seven goals all last season, his worst figure in all six years at the Rome club. The Bosnian moved to Inter in the off-season, where, at 35, he is now the leading striker, having already scored five goals in six starts, effectively repeating his mark from last year and with 32 games still to go. The veteran is in great form, so a bet on Edin Dzeko’s goal is worth considering for 2.25.