Preview

March 5, Lviv, Arena Lviv, 14:00
Live stream – Setanta Sports

Match build-up

Shakhtar opened the spring part of the Ukrainian League on Tuesday, defeating Minaj Uzhhorod in a postponed game (4-1). The result was secured by the goals of Stepanenko, Sudakov, and Sikan’s brace (Danylo already scored 8 goals in the league). It should be noted that the above match was the debut in the UPL for the club newcomers – Kevin Kelsy and Giorgi Gocholeishvili. The victory allowed the Miners to get closer to the first spot in the table. Currently Shakhtar have 33 points (goal difference: 33–12) and they are 2 points behind the leaders.

This week, Igor Jovicevic’s lads conducted several training sessions in Lviv, and after the game vs Metalist 1925, the team will travel to Warsaw, where the Orange-and-Blacks will play the first match of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 against Feyenoord Rotterdam on March 9.

The tickets to the European Cup game are available at tickets.shakhtar.com.

Opponents

Metalist 1925 also already played in the Ukrainian Premier League at the end of February – in the postponed away match, Kharkiv team had a goal shootout with Oleksandriia (3-3). After conceding a goal first, the visiting team scored three times by the efforts of Tkachuk, Bychek and Shershen, but did not hold the lead after the break. Currently, Metalist 1925 are the most compromise team of the championship – with 15 matches played, they have 7 draws with 4 wins and 4 losses (goal difference: 16–20) and are in 8th spot in the Premier League with 19 points.

Metalist 1925 is coached by Kharkiv football legend Edmar, and the most prolific player in this season is Rostyslav Rusyn, who has 4 goals and 1 assist. In the winter, the club was not very active in the transfer market: Artem Dudik and Ilya Zubkov left the team, the loan of Andrii Boriachuk, who returned to Shakhtar, ended, and there was only one signing – another student of the Academy of the Miners, Abdulla Abdullayev, joined the team as a free agent.

Match background

Shakhtar and Metalist 1925 met twice in the Ukrainian League: in the previous season, the Miners won thanks to the goals scored by Stepanenko and Traore (2-0), and at the start of this UPL campaign, the teams played in a goalless draw.

Previous match

On August 23, 2022, Shakhtar and Metalist 1925 opened the new season at the NSC Olimpiyskiy in Kyiv. The Miners had a significant advantage throughout the match (ball possession: 61–39; shots: 20–8) and created a lot of scoring opportunities (Mudryk, Sudakov, Bondarenko, Petriak, Ocheretko could score), and the visiting team responded with sharp counterattacks and dangerous set pieces. However, no one managed to score – 0-0.

Metalist 1925 vs Shakhtar match will be officiated by the judging panel headed by Oleksandr Shandor. Assistants: Andrii Skrypka and Volodymyr Vysotskyi.