Preview

Before the match
 
After the victory over Feyenoord, Paulo Fonseca’s men started preparing for the next round of the Premier League. Shakhtar are leading 7 points clear of the nearest pursuers.
 
The Miners have not played in Mariupol for 4 years now. The sides’ previous meeting at the stadium of Illichivets dates back to October 19, 2013, when the Donetsk team won 3-1. In the 2014/15 season, Mariupol received the Orange-and-Blacks in Kyiv, also playing in the First League the following two league seasons.
 
Shakhtar are preparing for the match at the base in Sviatoshyno. Yaroslav Rakits’kyy trains individually, with Sergii Kryvtsov and Maksym Malyshev recovering from injuries.
 
Opponents
 
Mariupol are a strong team sitting in the seventh spot of the Premier League table. The Miners’ opponents are only one point adrift of Zorya, at the same time being 4 points ahead of Zirka and Karpaty.
 
In the course of the season, Mariupol replaced the head coach: instead of the dismissed Oleksandr Sevidov, the former head coach of the Odesa-based Chornomorets Oleksandr Babich took charge of the team. Mariupol have claimed no wins with him at the helm yet – they drew with Oleksandriia, Veres and Chornomorets, having lost to Olimpik and Zorya.
 
Head-to-head record
 
The teams had 35 league meetings: 32 were won by Shakhtar, with 3 draws. The goal difference is 92-24.
 
The pitch in Mariupol hosted 17 games, 15 of which ended in favour of the Donetsk team. The goal difference is 42-13.
 
Previous league meeting
 
At the first stage, the Orange-and-Blacks proved stronger in Kharkiv – 3-1. As early as in the 7th minute, Bernard brought his team in front following Srna’s pass, with Marlos scoring just shortly before the break. In the second half, the league leaders continued to dominate, which resulted in the 67-minute goal by Kryvtsov. The visitors just managed to reduce the deficit – Tyschenko got on the end of the ball at the far post, taking advantage of a cross by Kozhanov.