Shakhtar vs Fenerbahce Prediction and Football Tips – 05/08/15
Champions League football tips – Shakhtar vs Fenerbahce prediction
Shakhtar’s manager Mircea Lucescu, has been forced to deal with problems this week, surrounding midfielder Fred, after playing him in the first leg. Although the player has not been suspended by Conmebol, the Romanian may choose to leave him out of this match and that could mean a starting place for Maksim Malyshev. Defender Aleksandr Kucher should return after suspension.
Both Gokhan Gonul and Alper Potuk could be missing from the Fenerbahce squad for this second leg but as neither featured in the first, this should not change things for Vitor Pereira. The one major change, will see the inclusion of big summer signing Robin van Persie, who should start the game up-front.
Possible Line-ups
Shakhtar: 4-2-3-1 formation: Pyatov; Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk; Stepanenko, Malyshev; Marlos, Teixeira, Taison; Gladky
Fenerbahce: 4-2-3-1 formation: Demirel; Kaldirim, Alves, Kjaer, Erkin; Topal, Souza; Nani, Diego, Sow; van Persie
- Shakhtar have won 6, drawn 2 and lost 2 of their last 10 matches
- Fenerbahce have won 6, drawn 2 and lost 2 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Shakhtar have scored an average of 1.9 goals and conceded an average of 0.7 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Fenerbahce have scored an average of 1.7 goals and conceded an average of 1.2 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Shakhtar’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 6 of Fenerbahce’s previous 10 matches
- The first leg finished 0-0 in Turkey
Fenerbahce will be disappointed in one respect, as they did not take advantage of the first leg being at home and travel to Lviv, Ukraine, still level with Shakhtar. However, the fact they did not concede a goal at home, will be seen as a bonus and something to build on.
Due to the troubles in Ukraine, Shakhtar have been playing their games in Lviv and have also lost some key players from last season, including Fernando, Douglas Costa and Luiz Adriano. However, they have started the domestic season strongly, winning their first three matches and sit top of the Ukraine Premier League.
The first leg saw two teams, who ultimately, did not want to concede goals and there is nothing to suggest that the second leg is going to be any different. Shakhtar in particular, will be concerned about conceding, as they have no away goals to their name and the match could end level again after 90 minutes.