UEFA Champions League 2017-2018 Round Of 16: Shakhtar Donetsk Vs Roma, Start Time, Live Stream, Preview, Odds
Ukrainian powerhouse FC Shakhtar Donetsk will meet Italian Serie A club AS Roma on Wednesday at the Metalist Stadium for the first leg of their Round of 16 series in the 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League tournament.
Start Time And Streaming Info
The game starts at 8:45 p.m. UTC+1. It can be viewed live online via FuboTV.
Shakhtar Donetsk
The reigning Ukrainian Premier League champions ended Group F eliminations as runners-up to English club Manchester City, finishing with 12 points by winning four games and losing two. The other teams in the group who failed to advance were Italy’s Napoli and the Netherlands’ Feyenoord.
Shakhtar Donetsk has continued to dominate in the Ukrainian top-flight with a league-leading 45 points, three points ahead of second-place Dynamo Kyiv. Their most recent game was a 5-0 dismantling of Chornomorets Odesa in the domestic competitions with Facundo Ferreyra and Marlos scoring two goals apiece while Viktor Kovalenko netting one to complete the five-goal haul.
The two teams have met before, during the last 16 of the 2010-2011 season, and the Miners won both legs of their contest, 3-2 and 3-0. This gives head coach Paulo Fonseca’s squad a huge psychological advantage going into Wednesday’s game.
Defensive midfielder Maksym Malyshev is still out of Shakhtar as he continues to recover from a knee operation he had in September of last year.
Roma
Despite being tied with Chelsea having 11 points apiece, the Yellow and Reds were able to top Group C competitions because of a higher head-to-head score of 6-3 over the Blues. Like Chelsea, Roma had won three, drawn two, and lost one in the group eliminations.
Head coach Eusebio Di Francesco men are actually on a roll in the Italian domestic league, winning three straight games prior to this match against Shakhtar.
La Magica is coming off a 2-0 win over Udinese in the Serie A last Saturday at the Dacia Arena. The team scored late in the match courtesy of 20-year-old Turkish forward Cengiz Under and veteran winger Diego Perotti in the 70th and 90th minutes respectively.
Perotti is expected to start again for Di Francesco with strikers Edin Dzeko and Stephan El Shaarawy on the attack.
Three players will be unavailable for Roma due to various injuries, namely Rick Karsdorp (ACL), Jonathan Silva (MCL), and Maxime Gonalons (calf).
Predicted Lineup
Here is the potential starting XI for both sides via the Football Drug:
Shakhtar Donetsk starting lineup (4-5-1 formation): Pyatov; Srna, Ordets, Rakitsy, Ismaily; Zubkov, Stepanenko, Kovalenko, Fred, Taison; Ferreyra.
Roma starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Alisson; Peres, Manolas, Fazio, Kolarov; Gerson, De Rossi, Strootman, Perotti; Dzeko, El Shaarawy.
Odds
Here are the odds, per BT Sport:
Shakhtar Donetsk – 13/8
Roma – 17/10
Draw – 9/4
