Fast Results
Scores
Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk betting tips, BuildABet, best bets and preview
Football betting tips: Champions League
3pts Arsenal to win to nil at 3/4 (Boylesports)
BuildABet @ 22/1
- Both teams to score 'no'
- Gabriel Jesus to score 2+ goals
- Taras Stepanenko 2+ fouls
Helped by a William Sailba red card, Bournemouth won 2-0 to leave Arsenal four points off the Premier League title pace.
In the Champions League, Mikel Arteta’s side remain unbeaten. They drew 0-0 with Atalanta and cruised past PSG but have lost some key players since.
Martin Odegaard missed the win over PSG and has since been joined in the treatment room by Bukayo Saka. The winger didn’t make the squad on the south coast and is unlikely to be risked on Tuesday considering the calibre of opposition.
It's early days yet but the signs are not great for the Ukrainian champions. Shakhtar’s solitary point leaves them with ground to make up if they are going to make the next stage. More damning is their lack of creativity.
No side has had fewer shots (10) or shots on target (1) with Shakhtar yet to score; no wonder Arsenal are heavily odds on.
What are the best bets?
Taking ARSENAL TO WIN TO NIL boosts the odds to a backable 3/4 and the angle is as much about the (lack of) potency in the visitors' attack as it is the Gunners' defence.
Arsenal did not concede at The Emirates in the Champions League group stage last term, with Lens thumped 6-0, Sevilla 2-0 and PSV 4-0.
Tuesday’s clash should be similar. Shakhtar barely laid a glove on Atalanta as they lost 3-0, failing to register a shot on target, only having one shot from inside the box and generating 0.29 xG.
They were 5/1 to win that match and are as big as 25/1 in the north London so this could be a long evening.
Team news
This game should come too soon for Saka who joins Odegaard, Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney on the sideline.
Mikel Arteta could ring the changes which should see starts for Jorginho, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus.
The latter has only started three games this season and is yet to score.
Predicted line-ups
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Rice, Jorginho, Merino; Sterling, Jesus, Martinelli
Shakhtar Donetsk: Riznyk; Konoplya, Bondar, Matvienko, Henrique; Stepanenko; Zubkov, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Newerton; Sikan
Match facts
- All four UEFA Champions League meetings between Arsenal and Shakhtar Donetsk have been won by the home side, in the 2000-01 and 2010-11 group stages; the Gunners won 3-2 at Highbury in 2000 and 5-1 at the Emirates in 2010.
- Shakhtar Donetsk have failed to win any of their seven away UEFA Champions League matches in England, all in the group stages (D1 L6). They did avoid defeat on their last visit though, drawing 1-1 with Manchester City in November 2019.
- Arsenal haven’t lost a home game in the group/league stage of the UEFA Champions League since September 2015 (2-3 v Olympiakos), winning eight of the nine such games since then (D1). Indeed, the Gunners have kept a clean sheet in all eight victories in that run.
- Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in both of their games in the UEFA Champions League this season (0-0 v Atalanta and 2-0 v Paris SG), while they last kept three in a row in the competition back in September-November 2007 under Arsène Wenger (4).
- Shakhtar Donetsk are one of only four teams yet to score in the UEFA Champions League this season, while the Ukrainian side rank last in the competition for total shots (10, level with Lille) and shots on target (1) through their opening two matches.
- In open play, Shakhtar Donetsk have progressed the ball upfield slower than any other team in the UEFA Champions League this season (0.97 metres per second). Indeed, they’re one of only three sides who haven’t recorded a direct attack in the competition this term, along with Girona and PSV Eindhoven.
- Arsenal’s Kai Havertz has made the most high-intensity pressures in the final third of any player in the UEFA Champions League this season (57). Indeed, the most by a player in a single game in the competition this season was by Havertz, in his last outing versus Paris SG (37).
- Excluding own goals, Danylo Sikan has been directly involved in four of Shakhtar Donetsk’s last seven away goals in the UEFA Champions League (three goals and one assist).
- Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus has scored four UEFA Champions League goals against Shakhtar Donetsk, all while playing for Man City, including a hat-trick against them in November 2018. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (five) has more goals against Shakhtar in the competition.
- Bukayo Saka has scored five goals from eight shots on target for Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League. Since the start of last season, he is the player who’s overperformed his expected goals total by the biggest margin in the competition in this period (+3.27 – five goals from 1.73 xG).
Odds correct at 1215 BST (21/10/24)
More from Sporting Life
- Fixtures, results and live scores
- Expert xG analysis and features
- Transfer news and done deals
- Football and other sports tips
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.