Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Chelsea: Full Preview, Team News and Projected Lineups

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Champions League Group E - Shakhtar Donetsk vs Chelsea - October 23rd 19.45 GMT

Tuesday night sees Chelsea take the long trip to Ukraine to visit Shakhtar Donetsk at the Donbass Arena in an interesting looking tie.

Both sides are having impressive domestic campaigns so far this season with both sides remaining unbeaten.

The similarities between the two sides' form also carries over to this Champions League with both sides sitting on four points following a draw with Juventus and a win over Nordsjaelland.

It is difficult to separate these two times on form alone, but the bookies have given the edge to Shakhtar who are available at around 7/5, with Chelsea at 9/5.

Chelsea are coming in to this game following an impressive attacking display against Tottenham Hotspur, where they put four past Brad Friedel.

But Chelsea will surely have one eye on their two games against Manchester United within the space of a few days, the first of which is next weekend.

So will Chelsea keep their heads in the game on Tuesday or will they take the Ukrainian champions too lightly?

Shakhtar Donetsk

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Team news

Shakhtar remain injury free coming in to Tuesday's Champions League tie.

All of their danger men are available for selection, which means that Chelsea's defence are in for a busy night.

Shakhtar have been setting up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, which is very similar to Chelsea's formation, which should make for a very open game.

Ones to watch

Shaktar's Brazilian contingent contains plenty of attacking flair and trickery, Luiz Adriano and Willian if allowed too much time and space can be as dangerous as any forward players.

Another young Brazilian, Alex Teixeira, has also impressed this year and would be worth keeping an eye on.

Probable line-up (4-2-3-1)

Srna   Kucher    Rakytskiy   Rat

    Fernandinho    Hubschman

Teixeira   Mkhitaryan   Willian

              Adriano

 

Chelsea

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Team News

Roberto Di Matteo has a tough decision on his hands, who to rest to keep fresh for Chelsea's huge Premier League tie with Manchester United on Sunday.

The good news for Di Matteo is that John Terry is available for selection on Tuesday but he may have to think about resting one or two of his attacking midfield trio.

Juan Mata is probably the most in form player in the Premier League at the moment so the Chelsea manager may decide to start him on the bench in Donetsk.

We could see players like Cesar Azpilicueta get some game time with a view to resting Branislav Ivanovic to keep him fit for the Manchester United game.

But Di Matteo will know that Shakhtar are no Nordsjaelland, and fielding a weaker team could end up biting him on on the backside.

Ones to watch

This all depends on which attacking midfield combination Di Matteo decides to start with; as Eden Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata are always players to keep an eye on.

We could see Daniel Sturridge starting in Ukraine, and he will have a point to prove after his recent absence.

Probable line-up (4-2-3-1)

Ivanovic   Terry   Luiz   Cole

      Ramires    Lampard

Sturridge    Oscar    Hazard

                Torres