UEFA Champions League: Shakhtar Donetsk vs Atalanta preview

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December 10th, 2019
Back UEFA Champions League: Shakhtar Donetsk vs Atalanta preview

The last qualification place from UEFA Champions League Group C is up for grabs on Wednesday evening, when Serie A side Atalanta visit Shakhtar Donetsk at OSK Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv. The Ukrainian side won the reverse fixture 2-1 in October, Junior Moraes and Solomon scored to turn things around after Duvan Zapata had opened the scoring for the home side. That was the first ever meeting between the two sides since it's the first time Atalanta play in the UEFA Champions League. 

Shakhtar Donetsk are just one step away from the last sixteen, they are currently second in the group table behind already qualified Manchester City and in theory they should pull through with a draw. However, if Dinamo Zagreb manage to beat the Citizens in the other match, then Shakhtar would need a win to qualify. They are unbeaten in the last four group matches, but the last three were all draws. The 1-1 that they recorded at Manchester City last time out was a huge result for Shakhtar, who are dominating the Ukrainian league with 15 victories and 2 draws since the start of the season. Andriy Totovytsky, Oleksandr Pikhalyonok, Maksim Malyshev and Marlos are injured for the home side. 

Atalanta seemed out of their depth in the UEFA Champions League group stage, this is their first ever participation and it started with three consecutive defeats. However, they did recover from that terrible start with a 1-1 draw at home against Manchester City and then recorded a 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb. Their only chance to qualify would be to beat Shakhtar on Wednesday and hope that Dinamo Zagreb don't get more than a draw against Manchester City. Atalanta have won their last three matches in all competitions, including last week's 3-2 win over Verona in Serie A. Duvan Zapata and Rafael Toloi are out injured, while Josip Ilicic will have to pass a late fitness test. 

Probable line-ups: 

Shakhtar: Pyatov - Dodo, Matvyenko, Krivtsov, Ismaily - Patrick, Stepanenko - Tete, Kovalenko, Taison - Moraes

Atalanta: Gollini - Masiello, Palomino, Djimsiti - Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Gosens - Pasalic, Gomez - Muriel

My prediction: 

Shakhtar are very strong at home, but Atalanta surely know how to score and have been in pretty good form lately. We'll surely see some goals in this one, and I think Shakhtar might win it 2-1. 

Here are the odds for this match at NetBet

Shakhtar win - 2.55

Draw - 3.80

Atalanta win - 2.55

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