Preview

August 13, Kyiv, NSC Olimpiyskiy, 19:30

Match build-up

Shakhtar fulfilled one of the two goals in the Champions League qualifying stages this week by beating Genk and facing Monaco now. However, head coach Roberto De Zerbi flatly refused to talk about the European competition path since the Miners’ next match is in the Ukrainian league. The team fully turned their attention to Metalist 1925. Even more so as Shakhtar’s previous Premier League clash between the UCL qualifiers ended in a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Oleksandriia.

22 footballers are preparing for the Premier League MD4 game:

goalkeepers: Shevchenko, Pyatov, Trubin;
defenders: Dodo, Kryvtsov, Marlon, Matviienko, Konoplia, Ismaily, Korniienko;
midfielders: Stepanenko, Maycon, Marcos Antonio, Marlos, Tete, Solomon, Mudryk, Alan Patrick, Sudakov, Konoplyanka;
forwards: Traore, Sikan.

We would like to mention Manor Solomon’s return to work – he was out after getting injured in the first leg vs Genk. And in the return match against the Belgians, it was Pedrinho who suffered a hamstring injury - he is expected to recover in about a week. Also, Puzankov, Vitao, Bondar, Bondarenko, Dentinho and Fernando are not on the preliminary player list.

Opponents

Metalist 1925 and Shakhtar are neighbouring in the team standings. The Kharkiv side have the same 6 points after 3 rounds, having claimed one win and suffering one defeat. In the league opener, the team defeated Rukh 2-1 (in the first half, Yurii Batiushyn and ex-captain of Shakhtar U21 team Dmytro Kryskiv scored goals). In the following match, Metalist 1925 suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Kolos, and then beat Chornomorets 3-2 after the latter returned to the top flight. Our opponents lost twice to the Odesa-based outfit, ultimately claiming a positive outcome (goals by Batiushyn and Holodiuk, own goal by Dubko).

Early in the morning of August 12, Metalist 1925 arrived in Kyiv by bus, and at lunchtime they held a training session in Shchaslyve. Their head coach Valeriy Kryventsov is a man who needs no introduction to Shakhtar fans. From 1991 to 2001, Kryventsov played for Shakhtar, made 250 apps and scored 53 goals, captained the team, raised the Ukrainian Cup three times. Late in his Shakhtar tenure, Valeriy was an Academy coach, in particular, he led the U19 team to the UEFA Youth League final. This will be his first match against Shakhtar as a coach.