Preview

December 3, Lviv, Arena Lviv, 17:00
Live broadcast will be available on MEGOGO, Kyivstar TV, Vodafone TV, Setanta Sports, Volia TV, Sweet.tv, OmegaTV

Match build-up

After the first round of the championship, Shakhtar are in 4th spot in the UPL standings with 25 points (goal difference: 22–13), although the Miners still have 2 matches in hand compared to the other title contenders. This week, Marino Pusic’s team have already solved one of the main tasks for the autumn part of the season – they claimed a victory over Belgian Antwerp (1-0) and secured a place in the European competitions after the winter break. In addition, Shakhtar have a chance to advance to the play-offs of the Champions League.

After returning from Hamburg, the Orange-and-Blacks had only 3 days to prepare for the match against Kharkiv team. Yukhym Konoplia, Dmytro Chyhrynskyi, Yehor Nazaryna and Marian Shved did not participate in the last match due to injuries, but Artem Bondarenko recovered after his injury. Heorhii Sudakov will skip the upcoming meeting due to excess of yellow cards.

Opponents

In 14 matches played, Metalist 1925 gained 15 points (goal difference: 15–19) and they are currently 11th in the championship. Kharkiv team started the season well, but they won only once in the last 2 months, defeating Chornomorets in the home match (2-1). After that, the team coached by Oleh Holodiuk were defeated twice in the row – by Polissia (1-2) and Veres (3-4).

The most prolific players of Metalist 1925 in this league are Andrii Boriachuk and Dmytro Yusov (3 goals each). The defender of Kharkiv team Ihor Kurylo will not play in the match against the Miners due to send-off in the previous round.

Match background

Shakhtar and Metalist 1925 played 4 matches within the UPL: the Orange-and-Blacks won 3 games, 1 meeting ended in a draw. Total goal difference: 11–1 in favour of the Miners.

Previous match

On July 29, 2023, Shakhtar and Metalist 1925 met in the 1st round of the current league in Kyiv at Livyi Bereh stadium. Shakhtar were the first to score: Mykola Matviienko opened the scoring in the 30th minute after Kashchuk’s corner kick. At the beginning of the second half, the Miners doubled their advantage – Lassina Traore scored after Kryskiv’s assist. In the 56th minute, Kharkiv team reduced the gap thanks to efforts of Dmytro Yusov, but the Orange-and-Blacks claimed the victory – 2-1.

Shakhtar vs Metalist 1925 match will be officiated by the judging panel headed by Maksym Kozyriatskyi. Assistants – Volodymyr Korotin and Taras Klymenko. VAR system will be used during the game (Oleksandr Solovian will be the referee).