Preview

November 13, Lviv, Arena Lviv, 15:00
Live Stream by Setanta Sports+

Pre-match

Shakhtar have not lost in the UPL for 25 matches in a row. The series began last season, and in the current championship the Miners played 10 games, in which they got 8 wins and 2 draws. Now Igor Jovicevic's team are in second position in the standings with 26 points (5 points behind the leader with a play in reserve). The Donetsk residents show traditionally high efficiency, having scored 23 goals (2,3 goals per game on average), and at the same time are the best in the league in terms of defensive play – only 5 missed goals.

In the previous round, the Orange-and-Blacks beat Veres (2-0). The team's top goalscorer Mykhailo Mudryk scored his 8th goal this season (the winger also has 7 assists on his balance), Dmytro Kryskiv scored in the second match in a row (he has 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 matches). It should be noted that in Sunday's game, Shakhtar's coaching staff still cannot count on the injured Viktor Korniienko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Yukhym Konoplia, Marian Shved.

Opponent

Zorya, like most Ukrainian clubs, experienced serious personnel changes in the summer, the main of which was the arrival of Patrick van Leeuwen as head coach. The Dutch specialist worked at Shakhtar from 2006 to 2013, heading the club Academy for 5 years. Under his leadership, the Luhansk natives started the championship well, scoring 3 goals in 3 opening rounds: victories over Vorskla (3-1), Lviv (3-2) and Dynamo (3-2). An unsuccessful period with losses to Rukh (1-2) and Dnipro-1 (0-3), as well as a draw with Kryvbas (2-2) was replaced by another winning streak, when Chornomorets (4-0), Veres (1-0), Metalist 1925 (3-0) and Metalist (3-2) were beaten. Against this background, the misfire of the White-and-Blacks in the previous round, when they lost to Inhulets (0-1), was unexpected. As a result, in 10 matches played, Zorya scored 22 points (goal difference: 23-16) and are one of the three leaders of the UPL. Among the most productive players of the team is the right defender Igor Kyriukhantsev, who is on loan from Shakhtar and has 3 goals and 2 assists this season. Dmytro Mishniev and Nazariy Rusin also scored 3 goals each. The main defender of the Luhansk team Maksym Imerekov will miss the game with the Donetsk team due to his suspension.

Match background

This will be the 50th meeting between Shakhtar and Zorya in a Ukrainian championship. In the previous 49 matches, the Miners won 39 victories, 3 games ended in a draw, and 7 times Luhansk players turned out to be stronger. Overall goal difference: 120-36 in favor of the Orange-and-Blacks.

Previous meeting

On 25 October 2021, Shakhtar and Zorya met at the NSC Olimpiyskiy in Kyiv. The Donetsk side scored 3 goals in each half: in the first half, Fernando scored a double, Pedrinho scored another goal, after the break Tete scored 2 effective shots, Danylo Sikan also scored. The visitors responded to this only with an accurate kick by Oleksandr Hladkyi. The final whistle recorded the Miners’ victory 6-1.

The Shakhtar vs Zorya match will be judged by a team of referees headed by Kateryna Monzul. Assistants are Svitlana Hrushko and Maryna Streletska.