On Tuesday night, Italian side Roma host Shakhtar Donetsk at the Stadio Olimpico in the Champions league last 16 second leg. The first leg ended in a narrow 2-1 win to the Ukrainian side, but the tie is far from over.
Since the first leg, Roma have enjoyed mixed fortunes losing against AC Milan before beating Napoli and Torino last time out.
Eusebio Di Francesco’s team have been rather inconsistent of late in the Champions league. In fact, the visitors have won just three of their last 12 games in Europe’s elite competition.
Even Roma’s recent home record in this competition is patchy, as they have also won just three of their last ten Champions League games on home soil. However, they are unbeaten on home soil this season in Europe, having picked up two wins and a draw. The home side have also kept clean sheets in four of their last six home games in the Champions League.
Shakhtar Donetsk have impressed in this competition under highly-rated Portuguese boss Paulo Fonseca. The visitors won four of their six group games, in a group containing Premier League leaders Manchester City, Napoli and Feyenoord.
In fact, the Ukrainian team have won six of their last nine games in Europe’s elite competition, including their last two. Their recent Champions league games have been high scoring, with over 2.5 goals scored in their last five outings.
One major negative for the visitors heading into this clash is their away record in this competition, as they have lost six of their last seven games on their travels. Fonseca’s side have also failed to score in any of those away defeats.
Despite Shakhtar’s poor away record in the Champions League, Forebet predicts that the visitors will hold Roma to a draw in a high scoring encounter, which would see Shakhtar through to the last eight of the competition.