Preview: Shakhtar Donetsk vs Panathinaikos - prediction, team news, lineups

Following a tight first-leg affair in Greece last week, Shakhtar Donetsk and Panathinaikos square off at Estadio Henryk Reyman in Krakow, Poland for the second leg of their Europa League tie in the third qualifying round on Thursday

The winners of this contest will secure their spot in the Europa League playoff round, while the losers must drop down to the Conference League.

Match preview

After emphatically seeing off Ilves (6-0) and Besiktas (6-2) over two legs in the previous two qualifying rounds, Shakhtar were forced to settle for a goalless stalemate in last week’s first leg with Panathinaikos.

Head coach Arda Turan was proud of his side’s overall performance and was particularly pleased with the way his team controlled the match, but the former Atletico Madrid and Barcelona midfielder has encouraged his players to “show more hunger to score” in the final third if they wish to win the tie on aggregate.

Shakhtar responded by scoring three goals in last Sunday’s Ukrainian Premier League away clash against Karpaty Lviv, but the hosts also found the net three times, including a 91st-minute equaliser to rescue a 3-3 draw.

The Miners could only finish third in the top flight last season, eight points behind unbeaten champions Dynamo Kiev, and they have since picked up four points from their opening two league fixtures of the new season.

Unbeaten in seven competitive fixtures across all competitions since their summer break (W4 D3), Shakhtar will back themselves to claim a positive result against Panathinaikos on Thursday, as they have never lost to Greek opposition before, albeit drawing three of their previous four such encounters (W1).

Panathinaikos, meanwhile, have an impressive record of their own against Ukrainian counterparts, as they have lost just one of their last seven such meetings (W3 D3) - a 2-1 defeat to Dynamo Kiev in the 1998-99 Champions League group stage.

The Greens were competing in the Champions League qualifiers at the end of last month, but they ultimately paid the price for a costly red card in a 2-0 first-leg defeat to Scottish giants Rangers before drawing the reverse fixture 1-1 and crashing out 3-1 on aggregate.

Panathinaikos have since dropped down into UEFA's second-tier tournament and were looking to redeem themselves in last week’s first leg against Shakhtar, but the 0-0 draw “does not satisfy” the Greek outfit according to head coach Rui Vitoria, who was left ruing a number of missed opportunities from his team in front of goal.

Seeking to avoid a second successive appearance in the Conference League, Panathinaikos are focused fully on their Europa League second-leg tie, as they are yet to start their Greek Super League campaign, which begins for last season’s runners-up with a home fixture against OFI on Sunday.

Shakhtar Donetsk Europa League form:

W D W W D

Shakhtar Donetsk form (all competitions):

D W W W D D

Panathinaikos Europa League form:

Panathinaikos form (all competitions):

L D D

Team News

Shakhtar Donetsk are set to be without star winger Kevin - who is allegedly the subject of a club-record bid in excess of £34m from Premier League side Fulham - as he is nursing a hamstring injury, while Eguinaldo is doubtful after coming off in the first leg with a calf issue.

Dmytro Kryskiv (muscle) and Danylo Udod (unspecified) are also in the treatment room along with Lassina Traore, who may require surgery on a hamstring injury picked up in Shakhtar’s Ukrainian Premier League opener against Episentr just over a week ago.

Kaua Elias and Alisson Santana have scored four goals each across Shakhtar’s first seven competitive games this season and both attackers are expected to start in the final third on Thursday.

As for Panathinaikos, Georgios Vagiannidis recently completed a transfer to Sporting Lisbon, so Giannis Kotsiras is expected to get the nod at right-back, joining Erik Palmer-Brown and summer signings Ahmed Touba and Giorgos Kyriakopoulos in the back four.

Fellow new recruit Pedro Chirivella is set to continue in midfield alongside former Shakhtar man Tete and Nemanja Maksimovic, while it remains to be seen whether experienced attacker Anastasios Bakasetas will be fit to return after missing the first leg with a hamstring strain.

Shakhtar Donetsk possible starting lineup:

Riznyk; Tobias, Matviyenko, Bondar, Henrique; Gomes, Ocheretko; Alisson, Sudakov, Newerton; Elias

Panathinaikos possible starting lineup:

Dragowski; Kotsiras, Touba, Palmer-Brown, Kyriakopoulos; Maksimovic, Chirivella, Tete; Pellistri, Swiderski, Djuricic

We say: Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Panathinaikos (Shakhtar to win 2-1 on aggregate)

Another closely-contested battle is set to be played out between two teams who will back themselves to edge through on aggregate. Shakhtar will be regarded as slight favourites, though, and should have enough quality in the final third to claim a narrow victory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.