The 2nd leg of the UEFA Europa League Top 16 round is going to happen on Thursday night. One of the first games is going to be between Feyenoord and Shakhtar. The first match ended with a 1:1 draw but Feyenoord was a better team overall. The Dutch team had an xG of 2.03 while the opponents had only 0.25. Feyenoord had 21 shots of which 6 were on target while Shakhtar had 5 total shots and only 1 was on target. In this game, I'm predicting that Feyenoord is going to win.

This season Feyenoord has been a dominant force. In the national championship, the team is the best and they are ahead of teams like Ajax, AZ Alkmaar and PSV. At home Feyenoord plays very well because they have 9 wins and 4 draws in 11 games, meaning they haven't lost a single game! During the Europa League group stage, the team had 2 wins and 1 draw at home as well. Per xG, Feyenoord is expected to score 1.69 goals at home and concede 1.21.

We could say that Shakhtar is somehow lucky to advance to this playoff stage. In the 1st round, Shakhtar played against Rennais. At home, Shakhtar won 2:1 but their xG's were very similar (1.95 and 1.72). On the road, there was a penalty shootout to decide the winner. The Ukrainian team was down by 2:3 on aggregate but Rennais had an own goal in the last minute that led to penalties that Shakhtar won. In this game, Rennais had an xG of 2.46 while Shakhtar had only 0.46. Per xG, Shakhtar is expected to score 1.13 goals on the road and concede 2.79.

There are no new injuries on both team. If we speak more about Shakhtar, they had 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in 3 Champions League group-stage road games. Shakhtar shocked RB Leipzig by crushing the opponent 4:1 but Shakhtar's xG was only 0.95 while Leipzig had 1.41. The next road game was against Real Madrid and they lost 1:2. Shakhtar had an xG of 0.78 while Real had 3.50. Shakhtar earned a point on the road versus Celtic (1:1) but again they had worse xG - 0.87 compared to 1.37.

I'm not saying that Shakhtar is a bad team. That is not true but Feyenoord is just a different-level team. In all 3 Europa league home games, Feyenoord had a much better xG and this team is unstoppable at home. Shakhtar was lucky to advance to the next round thanks to the home win but now the situation is different. Feyenoord should win in 90 minutes and qualify for Top 8.

欧足联欧洲联赛 16 强第二回合比赛将于周四晚上进行。首场比赛之一将在费耶诺德和矿工之间进行。第一场比赛以 1:1 平局告终，但费耶诺德整体上是一支更好的球队。荷兰人的 预期进球 为 2.03，而对手只有 0.25。费耶诺德有 21 次射门，其中 6 次射正，而矿工队有 5 次射门，只有 1 次射正。在这场比赛中，我预测费耶诺德会赢。

本赛季费耶诺德一直是一支统治力。在全国锦标赛中，这支球队是最好的，他们领先于阿贾克斯、阿尔克马尔和埃因霍温等球队。费耶诺德在主场的表现非常出色，他们在11场比赛中取得了9胜4平的成绩，这意味着他们没有输过一场比赛！欧联杯小组赛，球队主场2胜1平。根据预期进球，费耶诺德预计在主场进 1.69 球，失 1.21 球。

我们可以说，矿工能够晋级季后赛是幸运的阶段。第一轮，矿工队对阵雷恩队。在主场，矿工队以 2:1 获胜，但他们的 xG 非常相似（1.95 和 1.72）。客场进行点球大战决出胜负。乌克兰队总比分以 2:3 落后，但雷恩队在最后一分钟的乌龙球导致矿工队赢得点球。本场比赛，雷恩的预期进球为2.46，矿工只有0.46。根据预期进球，矿工有望在客场进 1.13 个球，失 2.79 个球。

两队均无新伤。如果再说矿工，他们在3场欧冠小组赛客场比赛中取得1胜1平1负的成绩。矿工4:1大胜莱比锡红牛，但矿工的xG只有0.95，而莱比锡有1.41。下一场客场对阵皇家马德里，他们以 1:2 输掉了比赛。矿工队的预期进球 为 0.78，而皇马为 3.50。矿工队在客场与凯尔特人队 (1:1) 的比赛中获得一分，但他们的预期进球再次更差——0.87 比 1.37。

我不是说矿工是一支糟糕的球队。事实并非如此，但费耶诺德只是一支不同级别的球队。在所有 3 场欧罗巴联赛主场比赛中，费耶诺德的预期进球都要好得多，这支球队在主场势不可挡。由于主场获胜，矿工队幸运地晋级下一轮，但现在情况不同了。费耶诺德应该会在 90 分钟内取胜并晋级八强。