Preview

April 27, Mariupol, Volodymyr Boyko Stadium, 17:00 
Live broadcast on the Futbol 1 channel
 
Before the match
 
Throughout the week, the Orange-and-Blacks were focussed on their preparation for the nearest game on the Bunnikov UTK pitch. Dentinho, Yaroslav Rakits’kyy, and Facundo Ferreyra trained individually. On April 26, the domestic title holders flew to Zaporizhya and went further to Mariupol by bus.
 
Shakhtar have had as many as four encounters with Mariupol this season. The most recent game took place just nine days ago. It was a Ukrainian Cup semi-final tie that ended 5-1 in favour of the Donetsk team. Taison got his name on the scoresheet twice after serving a suspension together with Ferreyra in the previous round.
 
Marlos, Dentinho and Taras Stepanenko will not play due to suspension.
 
Opponents
 
Mariupol sit in the 5th spot (36 points in 28 rounds). In five previous games, the Azov team suffered 4 defeats. It is worth noting that Oleksandr Babich's men perform much better at home, having suffered only one home defeat at the hands of Dynamo Kyiv (2-3) this year, also being tied with Zorya (0-0), along with beating Olimpik (1-0) and Veres (2-0).
 
Ihor Kiryukhantsev, Serhii Yavorskyi, and Andrii Totovytskyi have been suspended for the nearest round.
 
Head-to-head record
 
The teams have had 37 Ukrainian League meetings, with the Donetsk outfit proving stronger on 34 occasions, along with three draws. The goal difference is 98-25. On the pitch in Mariupol, the Orange-and-Blacks claimed 16 wins and had 2 draws (45-14).
 
Previous league meeting
 
On March 18, the OSC Metalist saw only the Miners score goals. The visitors defended selflessly, but in the 26th minute, Ismaily’s smasher found the back of the net after Butko’s delivery, with Shakhtar continuing to attack and scoring another goal just before the break (by Marlos. Fred fired a Ferreyra delivery home midway through the second half to make it 3-0.