Shakhtar Donetsk vs. RB Leipzig: UEFA Champions League probable teams, match stats and LIVE blog!

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Nkunku and Leipzig have been in flying form of late, with their 2-0 weekend win over Bayer Leverkusen following swiftly on from a famous 3-2 victory over reigning European champions Real Madrid. 2021/22 Bundesliga Player of the Season Nkunku scored in both matches, registering his ninth league strike of the campaign against Leverkusen having got his second Champions League goal of the season a few days previously. Leipzig - who could even top Group F if they win and Real fail to beat Celtic - will naturally be hoping for more of the same from the French forward in Poland. Defender Mohamed Simakan went off with a shoulder injury against Leverkusen, however, and he looks set to cede his place to Josko Gvardiol in Warsaw. With regular goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi out for the long term, Marco Rose will hope that Janis Blaswich can recover from the calf problem that saw him miss out at the weekend. Orjan Nyland will make his second appearance for the club if not.

Sitting third in the group and three points behind Leipzig, Shakhtar will go through to the last 16 with a win. That's because the Ukrainian champions would have a better head-to-read record in the games between the teams, with Mudryk already on the scoresheet in a 4-1 success in Germany on Matchday 1. The 21-year-old winger has been sensational so far this term, scoring in both group-stage draws against Celtic as well as four times in the league. The pacy attacker netted another eyecatching goal in a 2-2 league draw with Oleksandria last weekend, so Leipzig have been warned in advance. The Shakhtar squad has plenty of other Ukraine internationals too, with Oleksander Zubkov on target in a 1-1 draw with Real in their last home game in the group.

Match stats

Nkunku has scored in his last three matches in all competitions. In total he has 13 goals this season.

Leipzig are unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions throughout October (W7D2).

Leipzig have made the Champions League round of 16 once before, when in the 2019/20 season they topped a group that included Benfica, Lyon and Zenit Saint Petersburg. They then beat Tottenham and Atletico Madrid in the knockout stage before falling to Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final.

Shakhtar have drawn three of their last four group matches 1-1.

If the home side fail to win, they will drop down into the UEFA Europa League knockout play-off round. That fate awaits Leipzig instead if the visitors slip to defeat.

Probable teams

Shakhtar: Trubin - Taylor, Bondar, Matviyenko, Mykhaylichenko - Stepanenko - Bondarenko, Sudakov - Zubkov, Traore, Mudryk

Doutbul: -

Out: -

Coach: Igor Jovicevic

Leipzig: Blaswich - Gvardiol, Orban (c), Diallo, Raum - Henrichs, Haidara, Schlager - Szoboszlai, Nkunku, Forsberg - Werner

Doubtful: Simakan (shoulder)

Out: Gulacsi (knee), Klostermann (ankle), Laimer (ankle)

Coach: Marco Rose

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