Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk
UEFA Champions League
Date: Tuesday, 13th March 2018
Kick-off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Venue: Stadio Olimpico (Rome).
The second leg of Champions League round of 16 tie between Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk is perfectly poised after the first leg ended in a 2-1 win for the Ukrainian Premier League champions.
Roma took the lead in the closing stages of the first half when these two met at Kharkiv three weeks ago. But an inspired second half showing gave the Miners a narrow win. It was a tale of two halves for sure, but Roma certainly didn’t deserve to lose as they made 14 successful attempts at the opposition goal.
Within four days of losing to Donetsk, Roma were humbled by an inconsistent AC Milan in a Serie A fixture. They did well to bounce back since, by bagging back-to-back wins against Napoli and Torino scoring 7 goals in total as against the 2 conceded.
Also, the Giallorossi can take some confidence from their home form in Champions League this season as they picked 7 points from a possible 9 and are yet to concede a goal.
On the other hand, Shakhtar Donetsk are coming on the back of a five match winning streak, four of those came against below average teams in the domestic league. A win is a win regardless of the opposition and therefore the mood in the dressing room will positive.
However, punters must take a good look at their away record in the competition before making a pick for this match. Shakhtar Donetsk have an extremely poor record in this aspect and it is 6 losses from the last 7 Champions League away games. Furthermore, they failed to score in those six games.
Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk: Prediction
With the 2-1 win in the first leg of the corresponding tie at Kharkiv, Shakhtar Donetsk stretched their winning streak against Roma to four games.
The teams also met during the round of 16 of the 2010/11 Champions League, the Ukrainians were the ones progressed to the quarter finals by winning both legs – 3-0 at Donetsk and 3-2 in Rome.
Interestingly, Shakhtar had won just once in Italian soil, and that came against Roma in their previous knockout tie.
Four of the five overall meetings between the two sides in the Champions League saw 3 or more goals. However, both teams have scored only twice.
Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk: Prediction
Roma are certain favorites to win this fixture in front of their home fans. But, Shakhtar are even favorites to progress to the next round. The main issues for Roma lie at defense and the Ukrainian Champions are known for effective counter attacking football. Therefore, away goal rule will play a key role in deciding the final outcome of this tie.
To summarize, a home win is the most probable outcome, but expect some goals at either ends of the football pitch.
Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk: Bet Tips
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FT – Roma to win and BTTS for 3.00 odds by 888Sport.
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Over 1.5 second half goals priced at 1.94 odds by the same firm.
