THURSDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER – 17:45 BST
🇪🇺 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – MATCHDAY ONE ⚽
PSV VS. SHAKHTAR DONETSK
Since the Champions League evolved from the European Cup in 1992, PSV have reached the competition for a 20th time, setting a new record for a Dutch club and moving clear of Ajax, who have qualified on 19 occasions. PSV begin their latest European campaign with a clash against Shakhtar Donetsk, and Will Burns believes the Dutch champions should have too much quality for their Ukrainian opponents on Thursday night.
PSV
PSV have bounced back in style after faltering in the Johan Cruyff Schaal (4-0 to AZ) and the opening day of the Eredivisie (2-2 at home to Fortuna Sittard) to win four games in a row, but they have failed to keep a clean sheet. They beat Excelsior away 2-1, Groningen at home 5-1, then 6-1 away in Utrecht and last week beating Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena 3-1 in a controversial match.
In Amsterdam, Peter Bosz adopted a more pragmatic approach. His side held just 48% of possession, and both them and Ajax hit five shots on target. After the match, Bosz praised his team’s clinical finishing and the composed, mature manner in which they controlled the second half.
PSV will be without several key players for this clash. The man who Carlo Ancelotti has just called up to the Brazil squad, Mauro Júnior is suspended, while Kiliann Sildillia and Jerdy Schouten remain sidelined through injury. Alassane Pléa, and new signings Sam Lammers and Sami Ouaissa have yet to regain full fitness, while another newcomer Mikkel Bro Hansen was left out of the squad. There is better news regarding Dennis Man, who is in line to return provided he completes Wednesday’s training session without any setbacks.
SHAKHTAR
After impressively reaching the Conference League semi-finals last season, Shakhtar return to the Champions League and renew acquaintances with PSV, a side they faced during the 2024/25 campaign. Their previous meeting produced one of the most dramatic turnarounds of the competition’s history. Shakhtar stormed into a 2-0 half-time lead at the Philips Stadion in November 2024 and looked on course for a famous victory, only for an incredibly late collapse of extraordinary fashion. PSV staged a remarkable comeback, striking in the 87th, 90th and 95th minute to snatch a 3-2 win.
Arda Turan’s men arrived in Maastricht on Monday and will stay there until Thursday. After departing Lviv by bus in the morning, the team crossed the Ukrainian-Polish border before continuing to Rzeszów, where they boarded a charter flight to Maastricht Airport. Wednesday’s schedule saw an open training session in front of the press.
On paper, Shakhtar may not attract the same attention as some of the competitions’ bigger names, but the Ukrainian champions have made a strong start to the campaign. They travelled to the Netherlands in confidence, sitting second in the Ukrainian Premier League after five games, joint on 12 points with Polissya Zhytomyr, whom they lost to, 2-0 at the end of August. They opened the season with three straight wins with Brazilian forward Kaua Elias, the standout performer in the opening match, hitting a hat-trick in the 5-1 win at home to FC Kudrivka. They have scored ten goals across the five games and conceded four so far in the league.
Their momentum was briefly halted by the defeat to Polissia, but it prompted a candid response from Turan. The former Turkish international openly criticised his side’s lack of aggression in challenges and the tempo of their build-up play, while also accepting responsibility for the disappointing performance.
However, Shakhtar responded positively at the weekend. After conceding an early goal against Karpaty Lviv, they rallied to secure a 2-1 victory. Luca Meirelles restored parity before Alisson capitalised on a turnover in possession, racing through on goal and calmly finishing the winner. That strike could be particularly significant ahead of the trip to Eindhoven. With PSV often committing numbers forward and defending high up the pitch, turnovers can quickly create opportunities for quick, direct attackers.
Alisson, in particular, is a player to watch. The Brazilian winger has enjoyed an outstanding start to the season, earning the club’s Player of the Month award for August and once again proving decisive in Shakhtar’s latest victory.
They are slightly weakened through injuries to Brazilian pair, attacking midfielder Pedrinho (hamstring) and central defender Marlon Santos (muscle injury since May last year). Both have been added to the Champions League squad, but are set to miss out this game.
ANALYSIS
PSV will be eager to make a fast start and strike first in Eindhoven. An early goal would immediately put the Dutch champions in control and force Shakhtar to abandon a more cautious approach. The last thing Peter Bosz’s side wants is to fall behind and allow the visitors to sit deep, defend in numbers and look to exploit counter-attacking opportunities. Should PSV grab the opener, the game is likely to become more open, creating the kind of space their attacking players have thrived in over recent weeks. If the deadlock remains intact for an extended period, or if Shakhtar take the lead, memories of previous frustrating encounters could quickly resurface.
That balance is what makes this contest so intriguing. PSV undoubtedly possess greater attacking quality and arrive in excellent form, but Shakhtar are far from a side travelling to Eindhoven simply to limit the damage. Like we mentioned earlier, confidence will be high for Shakhtar, who come into the match after winning four of their opening five league fixtures, and they have enough quality to pose a genuine threat.
The Ukrainains have conceded in three of the five games this season, and the statistics strongly point towards an entertaining, high-scoring contest in Eindhoven. As we well know, PSV games are virtually always reliable for goals, with both teams finding the net in 19 of their last 21 competitive fixtures, while only one of their previous 32 matches across all competitions has produced fewer than three goals. Bosz’s side play an aggressive, attack-minded style that creates chances at both ends of the pitch.
Shakhtar, meanwhile, have shown they can remain competitive even when beaten, with five of their last seven defeats coming by just a single-goal margin. Their European fixtures also tend to deliver goals, with nine of the club’s last 12 continental matches featuring over 2.5 goals. With PSV’s free-scoring attack and Shakhtar’s ability to threaten on the counter, all the signs point towards another game containing multiple goals.
PREDICTION
Goals, goals, goals. With home advantage and the better squad, PSV should find a win here but they always concede so they’ll have to find at least two. PSV to win with Both Teams to Score is 2.63 at Paddy Power for our first selection.
Obviously you cannot ignore the Both Teams to Score and I think we will have a little go at a Bet Ladder too, laddering the amount of goals in this one. We will start the line at Over 3.5 Goals with 1 unit and ladder up to Over 6.5 Goals. If we get a 5-2 or a 4-3, we’re a winner of the all the rungs. A total of 2.5 units risked on this one.
| ⚽️ BET 1: PSV win/Both Teams to Score 💷 1pt Best Odds: 2.63 at Paddy Power ⚽️ BET LADDER 🪜Over 3.5 Goals 💷 1pt Best Odds: 2.20 at Paddy Power 🪜Over 4.5 Goals 💷 0.75pt Best Odds: 3.75 at Sky Bet 🪜Over 5.5 Goals 💷 0.50pt Best Odds: 7.00 at Paddy Power/Sky Bet 🪜Over 6.5 Goals 💷 0.25pt Best Odds: 13.00 at Sky Bet Risking 2.50pts in total |
If you joining me with these selections, good luck.
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