Red Bull Salzburg will begin their 2022/23 UEFA Champions League campaign with a visit from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.
Venue: Red Bull Arena (Leipzig)
Key Statistics
RB Leipzig have lost just one of their last 14 competitive games at home (W8, D6).
Christopher Nkunku was Leipzig’s top scorer in the competition last term with seven goals, including a Matchday 1 hat-trick against Manchester City.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last five European home games, including a draw with Paris Saint-Germain and a win over Manchester City last season.
Four of Shakhtar’s last five UCL trips to Germany have resulted in defeat by a 3+ goal margin, with a 3-2 win at Hoffenheim in 2018/19 the exception.
Shakhtar Donetsk are unbeaten in their last seven competitive games (W5, D2).
They have kept three clean sheets in their last three games.
Head to head
This will be the first meeting between these teams, but Shakhtar’s record against German clubs reads P26, W9, D8, L9.
Latest performances in all competition
RB Leipzig: L-W-W-L-D
Shakhtar Donetsk: W-W-D-L-W
RB Leipzig
Leipzig have started the season in a rather poor fashion winning just one of the four games they’ve played so far this season.
The Bundesliga team were thrashed 4-0 by Frankfurt last time out, sending them down to 11th place in the Bundesliga table.
Domenico Tedesco will be hoping that his boys can turn a new page when his former employers come rolling into town.
Leipzig will slug it out with Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk for who comes second behind Real Madrid in Group F, and a win against the Ukrainian giants.
Christopher Nkunku scored a mouth-watering amount of goals last season has started the season fairly well despite his team’s slow start with four goals in five games for the Bundesliga side, but head coach Domesco Tedesco will be hoping that the return of Timo Werner can alleviate the burden from the French man’s shoulders as they new as the domestic and international games comes thick and fast, but first of all they must combine to get all three points against Donetsk.
Possible RB Leipzig starting line-up
Peter Gulacsi; Mohamed Simakan, Willi Orban, Josko Gvardiol; Benjamin Henrichs, David Raum, Konrad Laimer, Emil Forsberg; Dominik Szoboszlai; Christopher Nkunku, Timo Werner
Injured: Dani Olmo, Yussuf Poulsen, Lukas Klostermann
Doubtful: Péter Gulácsi
Suspended: None
Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar Donetsk on the other hand will be looking to make it three wins from three in all competitions when they travel to Leipzig.
Igor Jovicevic’s men come into this game off the back of a 0-1 win over Rukh Vynnyky in the Ukrainian Premier League despite being reduced to nine men with Mykhailo Mudryk being showed a straight red in the 35th minute for violent conduct.
Shakhtar Donetsk have not gone past the group stage for four seasons running and the Ukrainians will be out to break their jinx this season and progress to the next round, but they must first overcome RB Leipzig on their own turf.
Possible Shakhtar Donetsk starting line-up
Anatolii Trubin; Yukhym Konoplia, Mykola Mativiyenko, Valeriy Bondar, B. Mykhaylychenko; Artem Bondarenko, Taras stepanenko, Georgiv Sudakov; Ivan Petryak, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Danylo Sikan.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
RB Leipzig 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
