Preview

September 30, Lviv, Arena Lviv, 17:00
Live stream – MEGOGO, Kyivstar TV, Vodafone TV, Setanta Sports, Volia TV, Sweet.tv, and OmegaTV.

Match build-up

Shakhtar remain unbeaten in the league (5 wins and 3 draws) and top the Premier League with 18 points (goal difference: 16-8). In the previous round, the Miners shared the points with Rukh also at the Arena Lviv (1-1), spending most of the game with one man down. At the same time, the Orange-and-Blacks’ scoring streak continues. Currently, it includes 37 league matches in a row. Also, the unbeaten home streak of Pitmen in the UPL reached 25 matches.

Patrick van Leeuwen's men managed to beat Veres away (3-0) in the Ukrainian Cup Round of 16 thanks to goals by Oleksii Kashchuk, Artem Bondarenko and Oleh Ocheretko and advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament this week. As for the personnel news, it is worth noting that Mykola Matviienko returned to training in the general group.

Opponents

Vorskla claimed 3 wins and suffered 4 defeats at the beginning of the season and are currently sitting in the 10th spot of the UPL table with 9 points (goal difference: 8-14), however having a missed match in hand. In the last rounds, the Poltava-based outfit faced setbacks in matches against Dynamo (0-2) and Kryvbas (1-4), for which Viktor Skrypnyk's men made amends in the Ukrainian Cup Round of 16, defeating Metalist 1925 (3-0).

Oleh Skliar and Vladlen Yushchenko were the most prolific players of Vorskla at the beginning of the championship (2 goals each). Brazilian defender Tiago Santana will miss the clash with the Miners" due to suspension.

Match background

In the Ukrainian Championship, Shakhtar and Vorskla played 55 matches: 41 victories of the Orange-and-Blacks, 10 meetings ended in draw, with the Poltava side proving stronger on 4 occasions. Total goal difference: 112-36 in favour of the Pitmen.

Previous meeting

On June 4, 2023, Shakhtar and Vorskla met in Poltava. The Miners entered the field with the reserve squad already in the status of newly-crowned champions, and the Poltava-based team motivated by the fight for European competitions performed actively on top and opened the score in the 36th minute – Seferi converted a penalty. In the second half, the teams exchanged goals: in the 50th minute, Pavliuk scored for the hosts, and in the 80th minute, Artem Bondarenko reduced the difference. 2-1 as a result, victory of the hosts.

Shakhtar vs Vorskla match will be officiated by the judging panel headed by Viktor Kopiievskyi. Assistants: Yevhen Petrakov and Maksym Chertolias. VAR system will be used during the game (Oleksandr Slovian will be the VAR referee).