Preview

May 31, Kyiv, NSC Olimpiyskiy, 17:00
Live stream on Futbol 1 television channel

Match build-up

The Ukrainian Championship resumes after a long break. Due to the spread of coronavirus, the rounds 23 and 24 have been 2.5 months apart. For the most of this time, the teams did not train in general groups as the players self-quarantined at home, getting back to full training just a couple of weeks ago.

Shakhtar have been preparing for the resumption of the season on a field of the training complex in Sviatoshyno. They held two friendlies there. On May 24, the Orange-and-Blacks defeated Lviv-based Rukh  4-1 (Solomon, Marlos, Konoplyanka, Moraes), and on May 27 they netted four unanswered goals vs Kyiv-based Obolon-Brovar (Patrick, Marlos, Marcos, Tete). The outcome on both occasions was secondary - more importantly, Luis Castro had the opportunity to give some match practice to all the players available.

On Thursday, May 28, the Miners held an hour-long session aimed at practicing positional performance in attack and defence. Defender Mykola Matviienko, who had not played vs Obolon-Brovar the other day, returned to the general group. On Friday, Shakhtar have another scheduled training session in Sviatoshyno, and on Saturday the team will test the Olimpiyskiy field.

The Championship continues, but a number of safety restrictions remain effective. All matches will be held behind closed doors. Therefore, taking into account the above and the need to minimize travelling, the club decided to play at the NSC Olimpiyskiy in Kyiv during that period.

Opponents

Shakhtar are topping the league table 13 points clear of Zorya and Dynamo (they each have 46 points). In the past segment of the season, the Kyiv outfit claimed 14 victories, along with 4 draws and 5 defeats (including two defeats at the hands of the Miners).

As part of their preparation, Oleksii Mykhailychenko’s men met with Rukh. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, with the Dynamo coach involving 19 players in it - defenders Popov, Shabanov and Mykolenko spent 90 minutes on the pitch. And on May 27, an early brace by Tsitaishvili secured the team’s victory over Olimpik (it was a shortened friendly of two 30-minute halves).

Head-to-head record

Shakhtar have not played anyone else in the Championship more often than Dynamo. The record features 63 games: 22 wins in favour of Shakhtar, 24 wins for the White-and-Blues, and 17 draws. The goal difference is 73-78. And in home games, the advantage is in favour of the Donetsk team: +3=10-8, 40-31.

Previous league meeting

In Kharkiv on November 10, the goal netted by Sergii Kryvtsov in the 17th minute, assisted by Tete, brought Shakhtar a 1-0 victory.