Celtic vs Shakhtar Donetsk predictions: Little to split Group F hopefuls

Celtic must beat Shakhtar Donetsk in their penultimate Champions League group game to keep their hopes alive of finishing third and earning a Europa League place.

A run of only one point from four matches means they cannot advance through to the knockout stages, but finishing third can at least give them access to UEFA's second-tier competition.

They face Shakhtar at home which is, on paper at least, their most winnable group game with Real Madrid and RB Leipzig making up the rest of Group F.

The visitors could still get into the last 16 as they are only a point behind Leipzig, following the 1-1 draw with Real on matchday four.

Team news

Celtic have been boosted by the news that defender Carl Starfelt and midfielder David Turnbull have returned to training following their respective injury problems.

Winger Jota is also back training but he has been working separately from the rest of the Celtic squad and is therefore more of a doubt.

Callum McGregor remains out of action with a knee injury.

Shakhtar's former Hoops winger Marian Shved is unlikely to make a return after he trained away from the main squad at the weekend due to a thigh strain.

Oleg Ocheretko and Yukhym Konoplya are also injury uncertainties for the Ukrainian side.

The stats

Celtic's Champions League form this season has been very disappointing, especially when compared to their excellent run of results in the Scottish Premiership.

A return of just one point from four games has been below par with the Bhoys struggling for goals.

They have netted just twice in the group stage so far, which is way off their usual standard — domestically they have scored 39 goals in 11 league games.

Both teams have been excellent in their own leagues with Celtic winning 10 of their 11 matches, while Shakhtar are unbeaten with six wins and a draw in seven games.

The last time the two sides met in September they played out a 1-1 draw as Mykhaylo Mudryk cancelled out an own goal from Artem Bondarenko.

Celtic's form at home could be their real saving grace in this clash — they have not lost a home league game in the entirety of the Postecoglou era and the Australian coach will hope to carry that into Europe on Tuesday.

Prediction

Celtic need a victory to salvage their European season and it is a case of now or never for them.

They will have to try and be defensively solid against a side that has scored seven times in four matches in the group stage.

But Celtic have so much power in attack, with the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi and Giorgios Giakoumakis enjoying excellent seasons, so both teams look likely to score given the pair have conceded 14 between them in the four group games combined.

Shakhtar have proven tough to beat, with only one defeat in four games, so a draw, which is 27/10 with LiveScore Bet, could well be the outcome.