Arsenal take on the visitors Shakhtar Donetsk in the round 3 match of UEFA Champions League group stage. The match will be played on Tuesday, October 22nd at Emirates Stadium (London).
Arsenal have faced their share of challenges, both before Mikel Arteta’s arrival as head coach and under his leadership. However, in recent years, their progress has been evident. Last season, Arsenal made a solid return to the Champions League (comfortably winning their group but falling in the knockout stages to a tough opponent — Bayern Munich). In the Premier League, they finished just two points behind Manchester City. This season, Arsenal nearly held on to a victory at City’s ground despite playing with ten men, only conceding in the final minute. Overall, they look very solid, aside from a slip-up against Bournemouth in the last round. In the Champions League, Arsenal has shown pragmatism on the road, securing a 0-0 draw against Atalanta thanks mainly to saves by Raya. But back at home, they confidently defeated a strong PSG side 2-0, with goals from Havertz and Saka.
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Shakhtar Donetsk fail to impress. The "Orange-and-Blacks" secured yet another domestic double in Ukraine last season, but their international performances raised questions. They finished third in their Champions League group again, even managing to beat Barcelona. However, after moving to the Europa League, the team, which retained Sudakov and brought in a couple of new Brazilian players, was knocked out by their first opponent — Marseille. This season, Shakhtar has already dropped several points in the Ukrainian Premier League (with the key "Klasichne" match against Dynamo Kyiv coming up next Sunday). In the Champions League, they’ve earned just one point so far. They secured a 0-0 draw away to Bologna, where Sudakov missed a penalty, while Riznyk had to work hard to preserve the clean sheet. In their next match, things completely fell apart as Atalanta calmly and confidently thrashed them 3-0. Is Pusic in trouble?
In 2000 and 2010, the two clubs met in the Champions League. Both times, Arsenal won the home game, while Shakhtar took revenge in the return leg. However, those return fixtures were in November, by which point the Gunners had already secured qualification from the group. It seems this version of Shakhtar has little to offer against the London giants. Arsenal should win comfortably with a -2.5 goal handicap.
Prediction for the match: Arsenal to win with -1.5 handicap.
