Preview

The season will resume in Kovalivka. In the Premier League round 14, the team of Luis Castro will meet with Kolos.

February 13, Kovalivka, Kolos, 17:00

Before the match

This is the first time when Shakhtar start so early after the winter break. The Orange-and-Blacks have never played in the Ukrainian league on February 13, but they have such experience in European competitions - exactly eight years ago, on the same day, they hosted Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League Round of 16 at the Donbass Arena (2-2).

Shakhtar sit in the 2nd spot in the table, unbeaten and a point adrift of Dynamo, also boasting the highest number of goals scored in the UPL (33). In winter, the Miners held two training camps in Belek, Turkey. They had seven friendlies there: vs Lech (1-1), Ludogorets (2-2), Sileks (4-1), Crvena Zvezda (0-0), Mariupol (2-2), Slovan (0-1) and Borac (2-0). There are only two changes in the team - Viktor Kovalenko moved to the Italian Atalanta, while another graduate of the Club Academy Mykhailo Mudryk returned from loan.

Opponents

Kolos have wintered in the 6th spot in the standings, having 18 points and being two points adrift of Vorskla. In the past 13 rounds, Ruslan Kostyshyn's men claimed four victories (over Lviv, Rukh, Mariupol and Dnipro-1). Before the break, they delivered three straight draws (vs Desna, Oleksandriia, Dynamo). We want to recall that the Kovalivka team made their top-flight debut just last season, immediately making it to the top six and eventually reaching the Europa League qualifying round through the knockout games.

This season, apart from the opening meeting vs Shakhtar, Kolos suffered only two league defeats - at the hands of Olimpik on October 31st (1-2) and the one vs Vorskla on November 22nd (0-3). The mobile and fast team actively use the flanks, being the fourth in the UPL in terms of deliveries and crosses into the penalty area (218). In 90 minutes, Kolos earn 5.2 corner-kicks which is higher than the league average, only Dynamo and Desna boast more.

At the winter training camp in Turkey, the Kovalivka outfit had seven test matches, with Pavlo Orekhovskyi being recognized as the top scorer (five goals). Kolos defeated Proleter (1-0; Orekhovskyi), Sileks (2-1; Lysenko, Milko), Vozdovats (2-0; Sorokin's double) and Atyrau (3-2; Havrish, Orekhovsky's double); they tied with Dinamo Tbilisi (1-1; Orekhovskyi) and Rukh Brest (2-2; Lysenko, Milko); they lost to Maribor (2-3; Orekhovskyi, Seleznyov). The team have four newcomers: Mykola Zolotov, Viacheslav Churko, Alvaro Ngamba and Dmytro Khlebas.

Previous meeting

On August 21st, the rivals opened another league campaign with a head-to-head meeting at the NSC Olimpiyskiy. In that match, Taison and Marlos wasted their spot-kicks. After the goalless first half, the teams scored four goals at once in the dying 30 minutes. In the 60th minute, Alan Patrick scored one from the spot and then grabbed a brace through a Moraes assist. In the 72nd minute, Tete made it past two opposing players in their penalty area just to see his effort the post, with the ball bouncing off it and hitting Volynets's back and then the back of the net. After that, Kostyshyn netted a consolation goal, making it 3-1.