Preview

July 31, Oleksandriia, Nika, 19:00
Live broadcast on Futbol 2 TV channel

Before the match

Shakhtar are 12-time domestic champions. The Orange-and-Blacks won the Premier League title three times in a row (2017, 2018, 2019), starting the new season with defending the title against a third-spot outfit.

After the Super Cup game, Luis Castro’s men have only a couple of days to recover and prepare for the start of their league campaign. The trip to Oleksandriia will provide an answer to the question of how much the coaching staff will reshuffle the team in the first competitive games. In the encounter with Dynamo, 9 players spent 90 minutes on the pitch, with Tete and Dentinho appearing as substitutes in the final stages of the meeting.

We want to point out that 4 years ago (in the 2015/16 season), Shakhtar already played vs Oleksandriia in the 1st round. Back then, the duel in Lviv ended in a 2-0 win in favour of the Miners.

Opponents

For the first time in their history, Oleksandriia claimed the 3rd spot in the Ukrainian championship. This result allowed the club to qualify directly for the Europa League group stage. The Oleksandriians will know their opponents in a month’s time - the main round draw will be held on August 30.

In the meantime, Volodymyr Sharan’s men are facing another start in the Premier League. In the summer, the team held a great training camp in the Netherlands, where they met some quality opponents (Jurdingen, Anderlecht, AZ (Alkmaar), Duisburg, Standard) and claimed a few wins. Then, they had the second stage of preparation in Bulgaria and a number of other friendly games (vs Borets, AEL, Altyn Asyr), plus a friendly vs Dnipro-1 upon their return to Ukraine.

There are some personnel changes in Oleksandriia: Andrii Tsurykov, Stanyslav Mikitsei, Denys Dedechko, Artem Polyarus, and Vitalii Ponomar left. Meanwhile, Valerii Luchkevych became the first team regular after signing a two-year deal. Another three newcomers - defender Denys Myroshnychenko, midfielder Maksym Tretyakov and striker Denys Bezborodko - have joined the team this summer.

Head-to-head record

Shakhtar proved stronger in 16 of 18 league games against the Oleksandriians, with other outcomes being registered one time each. The aggregate goal difference is 36–12. The Miners have always taken some points from Oleksandriia: 9 games, 8 wins, and 1 draw.

Recent league meeting

The opponents met in Kharkiv 5 rounds before the end of the season. Shakhtar managed to open the scoring early: in the 4th minute, Khocholava beat Banada after receiving a corner from Patrick, heading it just home. A little later, Moraes missed the target after being fed by Taison. Oleksandriia equalised in the first half - Banada finished off Hrechyshkin’s delivery. After the break, the Orange-and-Blacks pressed the opponents against their penalty area, and in the 59th minute, Patrick's second corner turned out to be effective. Moraes brought the team another important 3 points with his header on the way to winning the title.