Our prediction for this Europa League match:
Shakhtar Donetsk and Roma face each other at NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in the Europa League last 16, return leg. The Miners failed to impress in the 3-0 loss at Stadio Olimpico, with the team facing an uphill task in Thursday’s clash. Shakhtar Donetsk rolled over Desna 4-0 in the national championship at the weekend, but they will have a much bigger fish to fry against the Giallorossi.
The Romans, on the other hand, failed to impress in a 2-0 defeat to Parma, but they are with one foot in the Europa League quarter-finals. Since the Serie A side will be without key midfielder Mkhitaryan in the second leg, we are not tempted to put our money on the visiting team. Taking everything into account, a close encounter is on the cards, and we believe that there is a big value in betting on draw.
Highlighted Player (Oleksiy Shevchenko):
Oleksiy Shevchenko is a Ukrainian goalkeeper who was born in Dnipropetrovsk on February 24, 1992. The 188-cm tall shot-stopper played for his home-town club Inter Dnipropetrovsk during his youth career and he started his senior career at Metalurh Zaporizhya. Oleksiy Shevchenko made 13 appearances for Metalurh 2, while playing no more than 13 games for the first team.
In 2013 he moved to Dynamo Kyiv, but he was immediately sent on loan to Hoverla Uzhhorod. The Ukrainian goalkeeper played for the likes of Olimpik Donetsk, Torpedo Kutaisi and Dila Gori on loan as well before signing a contract with Zorya Luhansk in 2016.
Shevchenko made his debut for Zorya in the Ukrainian Premier League on April 10, 2016 in a 2-1 loss to Dnipro. He quickly established himself as a first-team regular at Zorya and he did well to keep ten clean sheets in 25 appearances for Zorya in the 2016/2017 Ukrainian Premier League campaign. Shevchenko received his first call-up for the Ukraine national football team in October 2016 for 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Turkey and Kosovo.
Highlighted Team (AS Roma):
AS Roma is a professional football club based in Rome. Roma were founded by a merger in 1927 and they play in the Italian Serie A. Roma’s fiercest rivals are Lazio and it has to be noted that both capital clubs play their home games at Stadio Olimpico. The two local rivals face each other in the Derby della Capitale, which is considered one of the most exciting derbies in the world of football.
The Giallorossi (The Yellow and Reds) have won three Serie A titles (1941/1942, 1982/1983, 2000/2001), while winning nine Coppa Italia trophies. The colour of Roma’s shirts is imperial purple with a golden yellow trim. A number of top-class footballers were part of Roma in the past, but Francesco Totti is undisputedly the club’s biggest legend.The Prince of Rom made his 601 appearances for Roma on 14 May, 2016 when the Giallorossi recorded a 3-1 win over Milan at Stadio San Siro.