Chelsea come up against Shakhtar Donetsk in their latest Group E match in the Champions League on Wednesday night and there is all to play for. The Blues are currently second in the group on four points, three behind Shakhtar, and it should make for an intriguing night of football after the Ukrainian side beat Chelsea on home soil two weeks ago.
Shakhtar completely outplayed Chelsea in a 2-1 win in Ukraine a fortnight ago and they look decent value to take a positive result away from Stamford Bridge this week. They are 11/4 to win and 12/5 to draw, although it is Chelsea who start as even money favourites with Ladbrokes.
Chelsea have plenty to do as the defending European champions look to avoid the ignominy of being eliminated at the group stage. They are just a point ahead of Juventus, who are third, in Group E and it really is shaping up to be an enthralling group. The worry for Roberto Di Matteo will be his side's recent form as they have slipped to second in the Premier League.
Following the defeat to Shakhtar, they have lost 3-2 to Man United, needed extra-time to beat the same opponents in the League Cup and they could only draw 1-1 with Swansea on Saturday. The lack of a quality striker continues to hold them back and Fernando Torres is 11/2 to score first and end his woeful form in this Chelsea v Shakhtar fixture, although playmaker Juan Mata is set to return from injury and he is 7/1 after scoring seven in his last eight.
Chelsea have been poor defensively as well, although John Terry does return from his four-match suspension, as they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six outings and both teams to score is a best price 4/6 on with Ladbrokes. Shakhtar are capable of causing Chelsea plenty of problems and they are a tempting 2/1 to score over 1.5 goals.
The Ukrainian league leaders, who have won their last 30 domestic matches, have got on the scoresheet in their last four visits to England and they boast a wealth of attacking talent. Alex Teixeira, who has scored 10 goals in 20 appearances this term, opened the scoring against Chelsea two weeks ago and he is 10/1 to repeat the trick with Ladbrokes bookmakers.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has also been in fine form this season as the Armenian has scored 14 in 13 league games, as well as two in three in the Champions League, and he is 8/1 to score first. Mkhitaryan and co. have been hugely impressive this season and they had the luxury of resting players in their 2-0 win over Metalurg Zaporzhya at the weekend.
They should arrive in London fresh as they bid to improve on their current record of three defeats and a draw from four visits to England. Chelsea are also looking to enhance their own form after winning just one of their opening three Champions League games and the score draw could prove to be the value bet at 3/1 on Wednesday.
Chelsea v Shakhtar Form
Check the season's statistics for both Chelsea and Shakhtar, plus the odds ahead of Wednesday's match.
Chelsea Stats | Shakhtar Stats
Chelsea v Shakhtar Tips
Tip #1: Score draw @ 3/1 with Ladbrokes.
Tip #2: Shakhtar to score over 1.5 goals @ 2/1 with Ladbrokes.
Tip #3: Henrikh Mkhitaryan to score first each-way @ 8/1 with Ladbrokes.
Match Betting
Evs Chelsea
12/5 Draw
11/4 Shakhtar
Correct Score Odds
7/1 Chelsea 1-0
9/1 Chelsea 2-0
15/2 Chelsea 2-1
9/1 Draw 0-0
13/2 Draw 1-1
14/1 Draw 2-2
11/1 Shakhtar 1-0
18/1 Shakhtar 2-0
11/1 Shakhtar 2-1
First Goalscorer Odds
11/2 Fernando Torres
7/1 Daniel Sturridge
7/1 Juan Mata
8/1 Eden Hazard
8/1 Luiz Adriano
8/1 Henrikh Mkhitaryan
8/1 Oscar
9/1 Eduardo
9/1 No Goalscorer
10/1 Marko Devic
10/1 Alex Teixeira
12/1 Victor Moses
Odds supplied by Ladbrokes.com, who offer live betting in-running for all Champions League matches.
Posted: Tuesday, 6th November 2012
Author: Chris James
Tags: champions league, chelsea, shakhtar donetsk, henrikh mkhitaryan, ladbrokes,
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