Dortmund vs Shakhtar Donetsk Prediction 29 January 2025

🔊 Will the "Bumblebees" finally manage to break their losing streak? In the 8th round of the UEFA Champions League group stage, Borussia Dortmund will face Shakhtar Donetsk. The German team is in complete disarray, having lost four consecutive matches under Sahin, one of Germany's best teams. The departure of the head coach slightly changed the situation but clearly wasn't a salvation. Let's try to assess Borussia's chances of maintaining their favorite status in this match in our prediction.

📊 H2H

In three out of four head-to-head encounters between these clubs, Borussia emerged victorious, while another match ended in a draw.

🟡 Borussia Dortmund

The series of failed matches in the domestic arena has already raised several questions, with losses to Bayer (2:3), Holstein Kiel (2:4), and Eintracht (0:2) dealing a serious blow to Borussia's status. But the team was ultimately defeated by an upset loss to an entirely unmotivated Bologna (1:2) in the Champions League. After this, Nuri Sahin immediately exited, and Mike Tullberg temporarily replaced him on the coaching bench. This change allowed Dortmund to slightly lift their spirits and at least share points with Werder (2:2), so there is still hope for the "Bumblebees" to return to peak form.

Moreover, Borussia has virtually no squad issues. The depth of the German club's bench is sufficient to easily cover for the absence of Süle and Nmecha.

🟠 Shakhtar

Shakhtar is practically bidding farewell to the Champions League for the foreseeable future, as securing a playoff spot requires the most unimaginable and fantastic scenarios. The decisive factor was the missed victory against PSV (2:3), which turned into a defeat literally in the final minutes of the match. However, overall, the "Orange-and-Blacks" conducted themselves commendably in the group stage and fully deserved their seven points. Yet, returning to the main European club tournament next season might not happen: in the Ukrainian championship, the "Miners" are in third place, trailing Dynamo Kyiv by ten points.

Shakhtar's squad is close to full strength, as the team's infirmary is almost empty. Currently, only forward Egineldo is listed as injured for Shakhtar.

⚽️ Goal Prediction

Dortmund clearly failed to improve discipline even after changing coaches, as shown by Schlotterbeck's sending off and two goals conceded against Werder. Shakhtar has a sufficiently strong attacking line that recently scored against Brest, Bayern, and PSV. Our editorial team believes it's worth betting on a Shakhtar Goal.

🚩 Corner Prediction

The trend is that in Borussia's matches against strong opponents, there aren't many corners, but against less serious teams, their number significantly increases. The average number over the last ten matches is 9.7 corners, with at least ten corner kicks occurring in six of the previous seven games. Therefore, we suggest that a bet on Total corners over 9.5 looks promising.

📝 Match Prediction

This year has been simply dreadful for Borussia so far, but there's still time to fix things. A victory over Shakhtar is vital for the "Bumblebees" to boost their morale. Shakhtar will arrive in Dortmund without significant motivation, so the hosts have every chance to defeat their opponent. Our editorial team believes that Borussia will win 3:1.

However, a "clean sheet" for Borussia is unlikely if they defend as carelessly as they did in previous matches. Shakhtar knows how to counterattack and capitalize on such moments; Bayern and PSV can attest to that. Therefore, we advise betting on Both teams to score: yes.