Tuesday, October 18, 2011

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19.10. (Wed) 20:45 Shakhtar - Zenit

Danny, Zenit
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 PROBABLE LINEUPS

SHAKHTAR DONETSK
Shakhtar Donetsk
Rybka
Srna, Chyzhov, Chygrynskiy, Shevchuk
Hubschman, Mkhitaryan
Eduardo, Texeira, Willian
Luiz Adriano
ZENIT ST PETERSBURG
  

Zenit


Malafeev
Lukovic, Bruno Alves, Lombaerts, Criscito
Faizulin, Denisov, Shirokov
Zyryanov, Bukharov, Danny
After his red card on matchday one in against Porto, Dmytro Chygrynskiy is set to return in the centre-back position, but Yaroslav Rakitskiy must serve another game following his dismissal in the same fixture and will subsequently miss out. Brazilian playmaker Jadson limped out of Saturday's 3-1 victory over Tavriya Simferopol, giving his compatriot Alex Texeira a chance to impress on Wednesday.

Striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov sat out Saturday's 0-0 draw with Dynamo Moscow due to an injury sustained two weeks ago,and could miss out again. Meanwhile, Alexander Anyukov limped off on Saturday and is a serious doubt, and may not be risked for fear of aggravating his condition.

DID YOU KNOW?

  • These two teams have no met since the Soviet era, and their last clash was a 1-0 victory for the Russian side in St Petersburg.
  • Shakhtar Donetsk's last success over Zenit in normal time came in 1981 - a 3-2 victory in the Soviet Supreme League.
  • The Ukrainians also beat their rivals three times in the Soviet Cup semi-finals in the 1980s - each time on penalties.
  • Zenit St Petersburg boss Luciano Spalletti suffered a 1-0 defeat against Shakhtar with his old side Roma during the 2006-07 Uefa Cup.
  • The following season Spalletti and Roma recorded two wins against Ukrainian opposition, including a 4-1 away win against Dynamo Kiev. 
  • Zenit's 2-1 reverse at the hands of APOEL last month was the Russian champions' third consecutive away loss in Europe.

Prediction
Shakhtar Donetsk's European campaign has not lived up to the promise that last season's delivered so far. Zenit, meanwhile, have been on poor form on their travels in Europe, and despite their impressive win over Porto in matchday two, I'd expect the two sides to play out a draw.
Editor's Prediction
Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1 Zenit