Pre Match
November 7, 2012 7:45 PM UTC
Stamford Bridge — London
Referee: Carlos Velasco
November 7, 2012 7:45 PM UTC
Stamford Bridge — London
Referee: Carlos Velasco
Chelsea - Shakhtar Preview: Blues aim to continue 17-month unbeaten European home run
The west London side were easily beaten by the Ukrainians on the third matchday and Mircea Lucescu's dark horses have failed to win just one game so far this season.
| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
CHELSEA
 CechIvanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole Ramires, Mikel Oscar, Mata, Hazard Torres |
SHAKHTAR DONETSK
 PyatovSrna, Chygrynskiy, Rakitskiy, Rat Hubschman, Fernandinho Willian, Mkhitaryan, Teixeira Luiz Adriano |
Roberto Di Matteo could be boosted by the returns of David Luiz (ankle) and Juan Mata (hamstring) after the pair were forced to sit out the weekend draw against Swansea City.
Frank Lampard's absence through a calf injury is set to go on, the midfielder having picked up the problem in the tie between these two sides at the Donbass Arena on Matchday 3.
John Terry is available for the game but Di Matteo has admitted that he may not play the skipper, who has just completed his four-game domestic ban for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
The Ukrainian side have a full-strength squad to choose from with no injury concerns, so Dmytro Chygrynskiy may come into the side after missing the first game between the two teams.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
Chelsea have not lost a home tie in the Champions League since a 1-0 semi-final first-leg defeat to Manchester United on April 6 2011
- If selected, Branislav Ivanovic will be making the 300th appearance of his career.
- The Blues have been in fine form at home this term, with just Juventus and Manchester United avoiding defeat at Stamford Bridge.
- Shakhtar have maintained their 100 per cent winning record in the Ukrainian league this season - Juventus are the only side to have avoided defeat against them so far.
- Henrik Mkhitaryan (pictured right) is the top goalscorer in Europe's major leagues with 14 goals in 13 games so far this season. Mkhitaryan is 9/4 with Bet365 to score anytime in this match.
- If Chelsea manage to score, it will be the 100th goal that Shakhtar have conceded in Europe under Mircea Lucescu.
Field Report
| UEFA Champions League (UCL) | Oct 23, 2012 | Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - Chelsea FC 1 |
 Chelsea FC     | ||
| Nov 3, 2012 | Swansea 1 - Chelsea FC 1 | EPL |
| Oct 31, 2012 | Chelsea FC 5 - Man Utd. 4 | CCUP |
| Oct 28, 2012 | Chelsea FC 2 - Man Utd. 3 | EPL |
| Oct 23, 2012 | Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - Chelsea FC 1 | UCL |
| Oct 20, 2012 | Tottenham 2 - Chelsea FC 4 | EPL |
 Shakhtar Donetsk  | ||
| Oct 23, 2012 | Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - Chelsea FC 1 | UCL |
| Oct 2, 2012 | Juventus 1 - Shakhtar Donetsk 1 | UCL |
| Sep 19, 2012 | Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - FC Nordsjælland 0 | UCL |
| Dec 6, 2011 | APOEL Nicosia 0 - Shakhtar Donetsk 2 | UCL |
| Nov 23, 2011 | Shakhtar Donetsk 0 - Porto 2 | UCL |
| 1 | Petr Cech | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Branislav Ivanovic | Defender |
| 4 | David Luiz | Defender |
| 24 | Gary Cahill | Defender |
| 34 | Ryan Bertrand | Defender |
| 7 | Ramires | Midfielder |
| 11 | Oscar | Midfielder |
| 12 | John Obi Mikel | Midfielder |
| - | Eden Hazard | Midfielder |
| 9 | Fernando Torres | Striker |
| 10 | Juan Mata | Striker |
| 22 | Ross Turnbull | Goalkeeper |
| 26 | John Terry | Defender |
| 2 | César Azpilicueta | Defender |
| 6 | Oriol Romeu | Midfielder |
| - | Victor Moses | Midfielder |
| - | Marko Marin | Midfielder |
| 23 | Daniel Sturridge | Striker |
| 30 | Andriy Pyatov | Goalkeeper |
| 5 | Olexandr Kucher | Defender |
| 26 | R. Raţ | Defender |
| 33 | Darijo Srna | Midfielder |
| 44 | Yaroslav Rakytskyy | Defender |
| 3 | Tomas Hubschmann | Defender |
| 7 | Fernandinho | Midfielder |
| 10 | Willian | Midfielder |
| 22 | Henrik Mkhitaryan | Midfielder |
| 29 | Alex Teixeira | Midfielder |
| 9 | Luiz Adriano | Striker |
| - | Anton Kanibolotskiy | Goalkeeper |
| 13 | Vyacheslav Shevchuk | Defender |
| 27 | Dmytro Chygrynskiy | Defender |
| 15 | Taras Stepanenko | Midfielder |
| 20 | Douglas Costa | Midfielder |
| 11 | Ilsinho | Midfielder |
| 11 | Eduardo | Striker |
| Branislav Ivanovic | |
| POSITION: | Defender |
| SQUAD NUMBER: | 2 |
| GAMES | GOALS | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Serbian will have a tough job on his hands to keep the likes of Willian and Alex Teixeira quiet, but his attacking talents will also be crucial to providing a width to the Blues' attack that can often be missing with the Hazard-Mata-Oscar trident all looking infield with their contributions.
| Fernandinho | |
| POSITION: | Midfielder |
| SQUAD NUMBER: | 7 |
| GAMES | GOALS | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
One of Shakhtar's plentiful Brazilians is generally the most withdrawn of the South Americans on the pitch, but his playmaking from deep is often crucial to starting attacks for his side. He proved in the first match between the sides that he is capable of breaking forward and netting and will hope to get on the scoresheet again here.
The Blues stuttered to a draw against Swansea at the weekend and were comprehensively beaten by Shakhtar in the meeting between the sides two weeks ago. Mircea Lucescu's side are on a fine run of form and Chelsea's home record in Europe could be under threat, despite the visitors notorious poor form on the road in continental competition.
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