Overview
Shakhtar Donetsk are having a very difficult season. In the Ukrainian national championship, where they are the defending champions and have won 7/8 of the last seasons, coach Marino Pusic's team has only won 4 points after the last 3 rounds. They are currently 10 points behind the top team Dynamo Kyiv.
Shakhtar's record in the Champions League is even worse. They have lost four of their last five matches and are at high risk of being eliminated early.
Brest, on the other hand, are in good form. Eric Roy's side have won six of their last seven games in all competitions, including a 3-0 win over PSV in the Champions League. They have also won three Ligue 1 games and eliminated La Roche and Nantes to reach the last 16 of the French Cup.
In the Champions League, the home team Stade Francis-Le Ble is playing more successfully than expected with 7th place after 6 matches (4 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss). In addition to PSV, Brest also defeated Sturm Graz, Salzburg, Sparta Praha and held Bayer Leverkusen.
Contributing greatly to the above achievements of the French team must mention the striker duo Ludovic Ajorque and Abdallah Sima, with 3 goals each.
Shakhtar have never beaten French teams in the Champions League group stage with two losses and two draws from four games.
With the Ukrainian representative not playing well in the European arena this year, it is likely that they will have to accept defeat against Brest.
Human resources situation
Brest have a few unfortunate absentees from this match due to injury. Haidara, Amavi, Coulibaly and Locko are among those players on the list.
On the other side of the front line, Sakhtar Donetsk will field with the strongest possible lineup after midfielder Kevin recovered from injury.
Expected lineup:
Shakhtar Donetsk: Riznyk, Konoplia, Bondar, Matviienko, Henrique, Zubkov, Bondarenko, Kryskiv, Sudakov, Kevin, Traore.
Brest: Bizot, Lala, Chardonnet, Ndiaye, Zogbe, Fernandes, Magnetti, Camara, Doumbia, Ajorque, Balde.
The match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Brest takes place at 0:45 am on January 23 (Vietnam time).
