PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: SHAKHTAR DONETSK V CHELSEA
Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton resume their extensive preparations for tonight's game...
TACTICAL BRIEF
Key battles
John Terry's ban does not extend beyond domestic games so he is available to play tonight. Following a home draw with Juventus on Matchday One, the reigning champions will hope to garner at least a point to add to the four accrued so far. Given the possible tightness of Group E, head-to-head results with Shakhtar may prove significant.
Roberto Di Matteo's side will be very confident after Saturday's derby win over Spurs, especially as it required considerable character to recover from a 1-2 deficit to win by two clear goals. It was the third match in a row in which the Blues have hit four goals. Chelsea arrive having scored 20 goals in five games in all competitions.
The Ukrainians are in great form too, unbeaten in 28 matches and having drawn only two of those. They will be slightly the fresher team as their league win over Ilyichivets Mariupol took place on Friday evening.
Mircea Lucescu's side play a possession game and boast the attacking prowess of Willian Da Silva, occasional target man Luiz Adriano and deep-lying forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who is a big threat inside the area.
The Armenian Mkhitaryan is in prolific form in the Ukrainian Premier League - 14 strikes in 12 matches - and hit both goals against early Group E strugglers Norsdjaelland to register his club's first home Champions League win since March 2011. Last season at the Donbass the Miners drew with APOEL Nicosia (1-1) and Zenit St Petersburg (2-2) and lost to Porto (0-2).
Both sides generally set themselves out in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with one central midfielder playing deeper than the other. In Shakhtar's case, Fernandinho is more of the playmaker while experienced Czech Tomáš Hübschman protects the back four.
Hübschman figured for Sparta Prague in both matches against Chelsea in 2003 (pictured below), a win and a draw for the Londoners. He tends to patrol his central patch quite rigidly and doesn't like to cover wide areas.
His equivalent on the Blues' side, Mikel, is a more liberated player this season. His strength and shielding ability remain, but once criticised for favouring the simple, safe pass, he is now responsible for positive, penetrative distribution to the fluid attacking midfielders. He has also honed the ability to regulate the tempo of the game.
(The Edward Newton coaching influence is also obvious in the Nigerian's perfection of what fans dubbed the 'Eddie turn'.)
Shakhtar's biggest offensive threat is also their Achilles heel. Darijo Srna is a storming right back, but is inclined to concede set-plays too readily at the back, and along with left-back Răzvan Raţ can also leave gaps in defence that Chelsea will readily exploit.
In the 1-1 draw at Juventus, the better side, Shakhtar, were repeatedly exposed down the flanks, whereas their own chances came from diagonal passes towards the edge of the Old Lady's box for Mkhitaryan, Alex Teixeira or the more distinctively coiffured fellow Brazilian, Willian Da Silva.
Willian plays as an inverted left-winger and loves to cut inside onto his right foot but is more inclined to pass than shoot, making him less predictable than some of his ilk. Former Arsenal forward Eduardo is not a regular starter.
Chelsea's two top scorers so far in this competition are the attacking midfielders Oscar and Juan Mata with two (only Real's Ronaldo, with four, has more). Daniel Sturridge has only seen 90 minutes of action so far this season, but the striker hit the net on his return from injury on Saturday.
No player has been ruled offside in this competition as many times as Fernando Torres. The Spaniard's all-round contribution this season has been excellent but he will be eager to open his Champions League account this evening.
Team news
Marko Marin remains out for a second game with a minor groin complaint so Roberto Di Matteo picks from the same squad as at Spurs. Shakhtar boss Mircea Lucescu reports all his players fit and healty.
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