Preview

October 18, Kharkiv, OSK Metalist, 19:00
Live broadcast on Futbol 1 channel

Before the match

Club football returns to Ukraine after 2 games of the national team who advanced to the Euro 2020 finals early from the top spot in the group. The Orange-and-Blacks are topping the league table being 10 points clear of Desna and Dynamo after winning all of their games.

On October 9, Shakhtar had a friendly against the Obolon-Brovar club involving 15 Miners (including 6 U21 players). Midway through the first half, Artem Kholod scored a goal, with Andriy Totovytskyi - who recovered from an injury - netting another one late in the game. After having 3 days of rest, the team got back to work at the Sviatoshyn suburban complex.

On October 17, the Orange-and-Blacks held an open training session. Reporters asked Luis Castro questions about the national team, the preparation for the game vs Kolos and the upcoming clash with Dinamo Zagreb. We want to remind you that Shakhtar will have 3 games in a row in Kharkiv - fans can purchase tickets at the OSK Metalist ticket office and online.

Opponents

Kolos won the Second League title in their debut season on a professional level. In the First League, the Kovalivka team finished in the fifth spot twice, having taken the next step forward and raising their class this time. The debutants started their Premier League campaign successfully, enjoying victories over Mariupol and Olimpik.

In August, the men of the former player of CSKA Kyiv, Dnipro, and Kryvbas Ruslan Kostyshyn did not win in 4 rounds in a row, later claiming the maximum result vs Lviv and Karpaty and improving their standing. Currently, Kolos are sitting in the 6th spot in table 3 points clear of Dnipro-1.

The son of the Kovalivka team manager Denys Kostyshyn scores the most goals so far (vs Zorya, Lviv, and Oleksandriia). In general, Kolos have left the field without netting any goals just three times this season. Last time, it happened in the 10th round vs Dynamo, with the short-handed Kyiv team being helped out by a mistakenly awarded spot-kick and the sending-off of Maksym Maksymenko. Later, the team of Oleksii Mykhailichenko secured the victory with notching up 3 more goals (4-0).

Besides Maksymenko, Pavlo Orekhovskyi is also on the suspension list after earning his fourth yellow card vs Dynamo. However, on the eve of the meeting with Shakhtar, Oleksandr Pozdeev, Yevhen Zadoya, and Oleksandr Bondarenko have been back training.

Head-to-head record

Shakhtar and Kolos have never met in competitive games, but in 2019 they played 2 friendlies. In July, the Miners won 2-0, and in September the teams tied 1-1.