Shakhtar Donetsk welcome the visitors Lyon in the Champions League Group Stage – Round 6. The match will be held on Wednesday, December 12th, at the NSK Olimpiyskiy Stadium (Kiev).
Shakhtar Donetsk need any win in order to secure their progression in the Champions League, and it is quite doable, actually. Why not? In the last round, when the hosts’ position seemed almost hopeless (yet after their 2 heavy consecutive defeats to Manchester City with the total result of 9-0), they did not give up; moreover, they drawed 2-2 against Hoffenheim till the 82nd minute, which meant their dropout of the league, they did not stop and fought till the end, pulling out the victory.
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Though playing their away match, Lyon will be in a better position on Wednesday. The need to finish with a 0-0 or any other draw, and they can enjoy play-off afterwards. This won’t be very easy though; if they still decide to play a keepaway game, they will most likely concede. Shakhtar’s attacking line is quite professional, aggressive, and stubborn. One opponent’s mistake in their half would be enough for the hosts to turn it into a goal.
The Lyon’s defense is not great; they’ve conceded 20 goals in 16 rounds of the national league. Also, they’ve missed 10 goals within the Champions League. In the 1st opponents’ head-to-head in France, they conceded 2 goals to Shakhtar and were losing 0-2 after the 55th minute. Then they managed to rectify the situation, and the match ended in a draw. Now the guests will not be fine with a draw. Shakhtar’s defensive play gives reason for concern, that is why we prefer not to bet on their win, but they will complete their attacking tasks and will score for sure – they did twice in Lyon; thrice in Germany; and they made 43 goals in 18 rounds of the Ukrainian championship. They won Mariupol 3-0 in their last home fixture. The guests, however, lost to Rennes at home, 0-2. The last round game versus Toulouse has been postponed, and the new match date has not been fixed yet. Moraes, Taison, Kovalenko, Wellington, Marlos, Dentinho, Alan Patrick, along with Stepanenko, Matvienko, Butko, and Ismaili, supported by Rakitskiy’s long shots, will probably manage to score another two goals to the net of the opponent.
Prediction for the match: Shakhtar Donetsk to score over 1.5 goals.
