Shakhtar v Young Boys: Caution could dominate clash of strugglers

• Neither team has scored a goal in the UCL this season

• YBB slowly improving under Magnin

• No in BTTS market a chunky price at 2.3411/8

Shakhtar v Young Boys
Wednesday 06 November, 17:45
Live on Discovery+

PSV did us proud last night, as they stormed to a 4-0 win against hapless Girona to get us on the board for this week. We'll head to Germany now, because Shakhtar Donetsk continue their campaign against Young Boys, and both teams will see this as a rare opportunity to pick up their first win of the league phase.

Given Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it's remarkable that Shakhtar are even able to compete at this level, and it's worth remembering that last season they managed to beat Barcelona in the group stage. This season is proving tough - the Miners drew 0-0 at Bologna, were outplayed in a 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta and then pushed Arsenal hard in a 1-0 defeat at the Emirates. Although they haven't scored in the league phase, yet, Shakhtar do have plenty of attacking quality.

Although he isn't in great form, Ukraine attacking midfielder Heorhii Sudakov is incredibly talented, while Danylo Sikan is a promising goalscorer. Shakhtar are the top scorers in the Ukrainian Premier League, with Sudakov the joint-top scorer in the division.

Young Boys have been outclassed in the Champions League so far, losing all three games to Aston Villa, Barcelona and Inter. Of course, that's a tough set of fixtures, but YBB are also struggling domestically, and are tenth in the 12--team Swiss Super League.

There are signs however that things are improving under caretaker coach Joel Magnin. In the league YBB have beaten Basel 3-2 and drawn 0-0 at the league leaders Zurich.

As both teams have failed to score a single goal in the competition so far, I'm attracted to the price of 2.3411/8 available for backing No in the Both Teams To Score market. This is a huge opportunity for both teams to take a win, and I imagine it will quite a cagey affair.

Now read our other Champions League preview here!