The match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Antwerp will take place in Hamburg. The Ukraine national team recently played on German soil, hosting Italy. Antwerp approaches the meeting with Marino Pušić's wards without a single point and with a negative goal difference of 3:14. The Belgian club have already lost their chances of qualifying for the Champions League play-offs, but have a theoretical chance to cling on to a place in the Europa League. To do so, they need to beat Shakhtar on Tuesday, Barcelona in December and hope the Ukrainian side lose to Porto in the final round. The Donetsk team now have six points, three points behind the two leaders of Group H, one of whom is sure to lose points in the parallel meeting. That is, Shakhtar still have a real chance to fight for a place in the Champions League play-offs. Bookmakers have identified the nominal hosts as favourites, offering odds of 1.92 on their victory.

In the Ukrainian league, Pusic's team are currently in fourth place, five points behind the leaders. Shakhtar have two games in hand, but the club have played poorly over the last three weeks. After a triumphant win over Barcelona, the Pitmen lost 1-3 to Dnipro-1 and drew 0-0 with Polesie in Lviv. It is possible that such results happen to Shakhtar due to the club's focus on the Champions League. The Ukrainian club defeated Antwerp in the first match on Belgian soil, losing 0-2, so they are deserved favourites. However, the opponent's squad, according to the evaluations of thematic resources, is more expensive, and the results on the national stage are better than Shakhtar's.

Antwerp have been looking for their game for a long time during the season, but now they have started to please their fans. In the last three rounds of the Belgian league the team scored ten goals, scoring them against quite decent Genk, Standard and St. Treuiden. Antwerp's first points in the Champions League are also long overdue, but the confrontation with Porto did not bring success either at home or away. In Hamburg, the Belgians have the opportunity to play "second choice", which will bring them at least one point.