Marseille v Shakhtar Donetsk

Marseille vs Shakhtar Donetsk Preview

Marseille's winless run in all competitions was extended to seven games on the weekend when the French hosts were dealt a 1-0 defeat away from home at Brest which is not exactly the best preparation for this upcoming 2nd leg tie with Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk who bring a three-match unbeaten sequence into this return leg at the Orange Vélodrome on Thursday night.

Four draws and three defeats make up this disappointing seven-match period for Marseille who have slipped to losses against Rennes (on penalties) in the Coupe de France along with domestic Ligue 1 losses to Lyon and Brest, but it is worth noting that all of these three defeats were inflicted upon Gennaro Gattuso's side away from home.

Meanwhile on home soil, Marseille boast an impressive unbeaten run of 13 games overall in all competitions which include picking up seven wins within this period while seven of these 13 games have also resulted in Over 2.5 goals being scored so goals could be set to feature in this upcoming clash as well especially as five of these seven wins have also produced three goals or more.

Marseille are also unbeaten in their last six home ties in the Europa League which includes victories gained over Lokomotiv Moscow, AEK Athens and Ajax respectively.

Shakhtar Donetsk bring a three-match unbeaten run into this upcoming encounter which includes a 4-1 ‘home' win against Arkadag in a club friendly in Turkey along with draws with Polish outfit Lechia Gdansk (club friendly) and last week's 2-2 draw against upcoming opponents, Marseille.

The Ukrainian side last played a competitive match against Porto in the Champions League in mid-December so it's perhaps no surprise that the hosts struggled to secure an all-important win in last week's 1st leg tie.

The bigger picture shows Shakhtar Donetsk have managed to capture just three wins from their last nine games overall in all competitions, each of which were gained in club friendlies while the visitors' last competitive win came in the form of a 2-0 home win against Veres Rivne in the domestic Premier League back in early December.

Shakhtar Donetsk had previously finished in third place in Group H of this season's Champions League which meant that the Ukrainian outfit had to make do with further progression in Europe by way of dropping down into this season's Europa League.

The visitors have collected just two wins from their last seven matches overall in this competition which suggests Marino Pusic's side could be set to struggle once again at this level against Marseille.

Marseille v Shakhtar Donetsk Verdict

Marseille's solid form on home soil at their Orange Vélodrome should see the hosts get over the line here against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Therefore, our main bet will be Marseille win @ 1.72

Other side bets worth considering:

Marseille win & Over 2.5 goals @ 2.60

Correct Score: Marseille 2-1 @ 8.50