Preview

June 14, Kyiv, NSC Olimpiyskiy, 17:00

Before the match

Shakhtar will play their third consecutive game at the Olimpiyskiy, with Kolos being the nominal hosts this time. In previous rounds, Luis Castro’s men defeated Dynamo (3-1) and Desna (3-2) to take more steps to their major goal this season. Successful outcomes in the upcoming matches will guarantee the team an early title.

3 days before the match, the coaching staff, the players and the personnel involved in preparing for the game underwent PCR tests for COVID-19. The Miners trained as usual in Sviatoshyno, focusing on their tactic, ball control, set-pieces and shots at goal. We bring you the session highlights in the photo gallery.

We want to mention that Marcos Antonio will not play due to earning the fourth yellow card in the last-round game vs Desna.

Opponents

Kolos have secured a spot among the top six teams, but their performance has just highlighted the difference between the top five sides and the rest of the participants so far. Zorya, Dynamo, Desna and Oleksandriia are competing for medals, with the Kovalivka outfit being 17 points adrift of Volodymyr Sharan’s men.

However, one could hardly expect any extraordinary results from the Premier League debutants. The team are doing pretty well in their first top-flight season, having claimed 8 victories and, in particular, having given Shakhtar some tough time in the last head-to-head meeting. At the second stage, Kolos suffered 3 defeats: vs Oleksandriia (2-4), Desna (0-2) and Zorya (0-1).

Oleh Kozhushko who was sent off in the second half of the match vs Zorya, will not help his teammates.

Head-to-head record

Shakhtar lost no points against the top-flight debutants, winning two games with an aggregate goal difference of 10-3.

Previous league meeting

On March 8, the action-packed encounter ended in Shakhtar’s 4-3 win. The champions enjoyed a 2-goal lead after precision shots by Taison and Moraes, with Milko pulling one back before the break though. In the second half, Tete extended the lead which, however, quickly vanished after Havrysh converted a spot-kick and the same Milko netted another one. Nevertheless, the decider was netted in the 81st minute by Moraes, assisted by Ismaily.