Marseille vs Shakhtar Donetsk Match Analysis & Prediction
22/02/2024 11:00 pm
Marseille will play host to Shakhtar Donetsk at the Orange Velodrome for the second leg of their Europa League knockout round playoff tie on Thursday night.
Les Olympiens threw away a pair of one-goal leads to draw 2-2 with the Ukrainian champions in the first leg, in what would reportedly be Gennaro Gattuso’s second-last game in charge.
Gattuso will not be barking orders from the Marseille touchline again, as in the wake of a disappointing 1-0 Ligue 1 defeat ti Brest on Sunday – where Les Pirates played the final half hour with 10 men – the former AC Milan and Valencia manager was relieved of his duties.
Official confirmation of Gattuso’s departure is yet to arrive, but Marseille are believed to have shaken hands with Jean-Louis Gasset to take over for the remainder of the campaign.
Marseille are now without a win in seven successive matches across all competitions, with their only victory of 2024 so far coming away to Thionville Lusitanos in the Coupe de France, and even then that 1-0 triumph left a lot to be desired.
However, Marseille have been queitly extending their praiseworthy unbeaten run at home and are now without defeat in 13 straight matches at the Orange Velodrome, where they scored nine goals in three Europa League group-stage games a few months back.
While Marseille have been busy trying to pull themselves out of a Ligue 1 rut during the winter period, last week’s 2-2 draw ended a two-month competitive hiatus for Shakhtar, who had only played friendlies since December’s final Champions League defeat to Porto.
The absence of Ukrainian Premier League action over Christmas and New Year saw Shakhtar enjoy the luxury of a few weeks’ rest before a taxing eun of competitive matches, but any rustiness had little effect on their powers of recovery last week.
Not until February 20 do Marino Pusic’s side pit their wits against Ukrainian Premier League opposition again, meaning that Shakhtar will have had seven days to dissect their opening draw with Marseille, which saw the Miners score twice against Les Olympiens for the third match running.
Marseille vs. Shakhtar Donetsk Head to head
These two teams have only previously met three times, with Shakhtar winning twice while they drew once.
-
09/04/2009Shakhtar Donetsk2Marseille0Europa League
-
16/04/2009Marseille1Shakhtar Donetsk2Europa League
-
15/02/2024Shakhtar Donetsk2Marseille2Europa League
-
22/02/2024N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
-
22/02/2024MarseilleN/AShakhtar DonetskN/AEuropa League
Marseille Team News
The first half of the opening leg saw Leonardo Balerdi pick up his third booking of the 2023-24 Europa League, thus ruling the centre-back out of Thursday’s second leg through suspension.
Ismaila Sar missed the first leg through a ban but is available again, as is Samuel Gigot, absent from the Ligue 1 defeat to Brest due to a domestic suspension.
Marseille's Last 5 Matches
-
27/01/2024Marseille2Monaco2Ligue 1
-
04/02/2024Lyon1Marseille0Ligue 1
-
09/02/2024Marseille1Metz1Ligue 1
-
15/02/2024Shakhtar Donetsk2Marseille2Europa League
-
18/02/2024Brest1Marseille0Ligue 1
Shakhtar Donetsk Team News
The lengthy winter break gave Shakhtar ample time to recover from any bumps or bruises, but Ivan Petryak (ankle), Marlon Gomes (calf) and Tymur Puzankov (ACL) will not be back in time for Thursday’s match.
Thirty-four-year-old veteran Yaroslav Rakitskyi should be drafted into the visitors’ backline, but Pusic should otherwise keep faith with the other 10 starters from the first leg.
Shakhtar Donetsk's Last 5 Matches
-
03/02/2024Shakhtar Donetsk0Hradec Kralove2Club Friendlies
-
03/02/2024Shakhtar Donetsk2Velez3Club Friendlies
-
08/02/2024Shakhtar Donetsk4Arkadag1Club Friendlies
-
08/02/2024Lechia Gdansk1Shakhtar Donetsk1Club Friendlies
-
15/02/2024Shakhtar Donetsk2Marseille2Europa League
Marseille vs. Shakhtar Donetsk: Odds and Predictions
Main Prediction
1X2: 1
Best Odds
1000% Super Multi Bonus
Up to 10 times (1000%) larger winnings on bets placed during Happy Hour
CLAIM BONUS
