Napoli vs Shakhtar Donetsk: Italians to claim entertaining win over Ukrainian visitors

Needing a win order to preserve their fragile chances of progression, Al Hain-Cole expects the Partenopei to come out on top in a high-scoring match

Shakhtar Donetsk will be hoping to book their place in the Champions League knockout stages when they travel to the Stadio San Paolo to take on Napoli on Tuesday.

Second in Group F with nine points from their opening four fixtures, Paulo Fonseca’s men are available at 11/2 (6.50) with bet365 to qualify for the last 16 by coming out on top in Italy.

With just three points to their name themselves, the Partenopei are on offer at 2/5 (1.40) to secure the win they need in order to maintain their own slim chances of progression.

None of the hosts’ last nine fixtures in this competition have resulted in draws, but you can get odds of 4/1 (5.00) on them being held to a stalemate in this one.

Clear favourites to qualify alongside Manchester City when the group was drawn, Maurizio Sarri’s team is now up against it to make it through to the next round.

Although they certainly did themselves justice in two closely-fought defeats against City, the Serie A leaders have been put on the back foot by a surprising 2-1 loss in Ukraine in the opening game.

The Italians must now win by at least that scoreline in this return clash in order to take the lead in the head-to-head stakes, with a very winnable trip to Feyenoord coming up in their final clash while their opponents host Manchester City.

This is certainly achievable for a team that has won 12 and lost just one of their last 15 games on home turf, with the visitors having lost five of the previous six away matches in the Champions League.

However, having failed to keep a clean sheet in seven matches in this competition, odds of 13/8 (2.63) look good on Napoli coming out on top despite conceding for the second successive Champions League home game.