Artem Frankov, a well-known journalist and editor-in-chief of Football magazine, has prepared a forecast for the Shakhtar vs Feyenoord match of the Europa League last 16.
"We are following Shakhtar more or less, so let's talk about the opponent. Arne Slot's team is leading the Dutch league with four wins in a row and is three points ahead of Ajax. Also, the Rotterdam team, who we remember from their meetings with Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League, continue to compete in the National Cup, where they reached the semifinals and will fight the same Ajax team with whom they recently played 1-1 in the Eredivisie.
This preoccupation with internal affairs, of course, does not speak in his favor, as well as the injuries of the players of the "clip" - the main goalkeeper, goalkeeper Baylow, defender Canter Timber and Swedish attacker Havvolemaker. I do not exclude the rotation in the Brazilian direction of Jahanbakhsh/Danilo and Dilrosun/Paixao. At least the last match against Groningen was very difficult for Feye: even after a ridiculous penalty in the 52nd minute, the team began to create chances only at the end of the match - when all their strength was thrown into the attack. The main thing is not to give the Rotterdam team any space!
On the other hand, Shakhtar's level, with all due respect to the team, up to and including admiration for the victories achieved in 2023, leads to exactly the bookmaker's odds... which it does. But after the passage of Rennes, in the light of the character shown in the matches with the French and the incredible luck of the Ukrainians, I would not consider the chances of Donetsk so low. It is because of the unpredictability of the confrontation that I prefer to focus on the total.
My bet: TB 3.0 at 2.50 - if there were goals with the French, then God himself ordered it with the Dutch-Dutch!" said Frankov.