Shakhtar Donetsk vs Lech Poznań prediction and betting tips, March 19, 2026

By Deniss Novickis | Published: 19 March, 2026, 08:30

Shakhtar Donetsk host Lech Poznań at the Synerise Arena Kraków on Thursday night with the goal of reaching the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals. Last week, the Ukrainian Premier League bronze medalists won 3-1 in Poznań; however, the game was fairly even, and a victory by one goal probably would’ve been a fairer result.

Shakhtar made their way to the top-5 favourites of the tournament thanks to that win, currently sitting at 10.00. Lech are the penultimate contender to lift the trophy, according to the bookies, at 251.00. In fact, the bookmakers are sure that Lech will not overcome a 2-goal deficit, as the odds of the Polish side reaching the next round sit at 11.00. MightyTips analyses the form and squad news of both teams before providing a few betting options for the upcoming encounter.

😍 Return of the Conference League and a victorious night in Poznań 🤩#Shakhtar #UECL #LechShakhtar

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— FC SHAKHTAR ENGLISH (@FCShakhtar_eng) March 14, 2026

Shakhtar are in brilliant form in 2026, winning all five of their official matches. The Ukrainian league leaders scored nine goals in the process, letting in just once, in the first game against Lech. With the international window just around the corner, coach Arda Turan will surely field his best XI on Thursday.

However, the Turkish manager will be short of key defender Valeriy Bondar, who is serving a suspension after his third yellow card of the campaign in Poznań. Another defender, Mykola Matviienko, won’t play due to injury. As for midfielders Dmytro Kryskiv and Marlon Gomes, both are questionable, and the decision on whether they will play will be made just ahead of the game.

While Shakhtar’s defence is very solid this year, Lassina Traoré shows amazing form too. The Burkina Faso striker already scored four goals in 2026, although he is yet to open his tally in this season’s Conference League.

“We will play tomorrow to make our dream come true. Perhaps, not everyone understands what this means for us, given the conditions in which we are playing, the trips we have”, said Arda Turan a day before the match.

Lech played many more official matches since the turn of the year, and their results have been mixed. After losing the first two games, the team had a 6-match winning streak, keeping four clean sheets during that stint. A 3-game losing streak followed, but on Sunday, Lech won away to Zaglebie thanks to a sole goal by Mikael Ishak. That was a key victory, as now we have three teams tied on 41 points at the top of Ekstraklasa with nine rounds to go.

There are two absentees only, and both shouldn’t affect Lech, as defender Alex Douglas and winger Kornel Lisman could hardly be called regular players. Ishak is the key figure for the Polish club, scoring 13 goals in Ekstraklasa and 6 more in the Conference League, including one in the first match versus Shakhtar. If the Miners close him down, it will be a huge step on the way to the quarter-finals.

• This is the second competitive meeting between Shakhtar and Lech.
• Shakhtar concede less than one goal per game in this season’s Conference League, scoring 1.85 goals per match on average.
• Lech were on a 5-match unbeaten streak in the Conference League before losing to Shakhtar, winning the last three.
• Lech reached the quarter-finals of this tournament in 2023 when they lost to Fiorentina. Shakhar’s best European result is the UEFA Cup in 2008/09.

Given the difference in form, it’s very hard to see Lech somehow reaching the next round. While the bench is long enough, there’s a league match against Termalica on Sunday, and the focus might already switch to Ekstraklasa. In the meantime, Lech are two goals behind, which should lead to an open game with plenty of scoring chances. Shakhtar to score in the first half at 1.80 looks promising, but I like over 2.5 goals at the same odds a bit more.

We mentioned above that Lassina Traoré is in great form. This is a risky one, but the bookmakers offer the odds of 2.62 for Shakhtar’s striker to score anytime. We definitely see value in this prop bet.

Last but not least, the total market for corners has caught our eye. There was a single corner in the first match, which is unrealistic. However, with Lech likely opting for positional attacks and leaving space behind, plenty of corners is not the likely scenario. The line is quite high at 9.5 corners, and the under here is the bet to make.

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