Preview

December 6, Kharkiv, OSK Metalist, 19:00
Live broadcast on Futbol 1 channel
 
Before the match
 
After losing points in the meeting with Mariupol, Luis Castro’s men will try to get the maximum vs Olimpik. They started preparing for the game on December 3rd. The Miners held a theory session, then they worked in different groups on the pitch and played a small-sided game.
 
On Thursday morning, December 5, they will hold an open training session in Sviatoshyno, where reporters will be able to pose questions to the manager and players, with the team going to Kharkiv the same evening. Alan Patrick and Junior Moraes are back in the general group after being suspended.
 
Tickets for the games vs Olimpik (December 6) and Atalanta (December 11) can be purchased online, at shakhtar.com, and at the OSK Metalist ticket office. Don’t miss out on the last major game in Kharkiv this year!
 
Opponents
 
Olimpik are competing for a spot among the top 6 sides after having had a really unsuccessful league start: 4 defeats and the resignation of Julio Cesar. In matches vs the vice-champions and the champions, their caretaker manager was Ihor Klymovskyi, with Vicente Gomez taking charge of the team later – he is familiar to Ukrainian fans through his tenure at Dynamo Kyiv.
 
Recently, Olimpik began to consistently claim points in games vs their competitors (they defeated Vorskla, Dnipro-1, Kolos, and Karpaty) and climbed the standings. However, they failed to draw with Dynamo in the last round: the sides left for the break at 1-1 (the main striker Shahab Zahedi scored one), with Dynamo’s Besedin and de Pena bringing the Kyiv team a victory in the second half. In that match, Olimpik’s midfielder Andrii Kravchuk was sent off, so he will miss the meeting with Shakhtar now.
                                                           
Head-to-head record
 
The clubs have had 13 encounters: Shakhtar proved stronger in 9 games, along with 4 draws – the goal difference is 41-11. As the home team, the Miners won 3 out of 6 games.
 
Previous league meeting
 
On September 1st, in Kyiv, Shakhtar demolished the opponents 4-0, scoring 2 goals either side of the break. Junior Moraes scored the opener and the last one, Manor Solomon netted a goal after finding himself one on one, with one more goal belonging to Marlos.