Preview

December 14, Zaporizhia, Slavutych-Arena, 17:00
Live broadcast on 2+2 TV channel
 
Before the match
 
Before the last league round in 2019, Shakhtar are 13 points clear of Zorya. A week ago, the Miners claimed a major defeat in Kharkiv vs Olimpik (3-0) through the goals by Mykola Matviienko, Marlos, and Ismaily. Interestingly, the defender Sergii Kryvtsov scored goals vs Zorya in 2013, 2015, and 2017, this coming Saturday he will have the opportunity to extend this trend. Junior Moraes scored goals in 2 previous meetings with the Black-and-Whites.
  
After the Champions League match, Shakhtar stayed in Kharkiv, where they have had several training sessions. They went to Zaporizhia on the evening of December 13. Taison will miss the game vs Zorya due to suspension.
  
Opponents
 
Zorya, after replacing the head coach in the summer, have been showing good results this season. Viktor Skrypnyk’s team currently sit in the second spot: they have 10 wins, 4 draws, and 3 defeats. In the last 7 matches, the Luhansk outfit have lost points only once, suffering a narrow defeat at the hands of Oleksandriia in the 15th round, but defeating Desna, Vorskla, Dnipro-1, Kolos, Karpaty, and Dynamo. Actually, against the Kyiv team, Zorya scored 4 points out of 6 (2-2 in Zaporizhia, 2-1 in the capital) and, thanks to this among other things, they are above the vice-champions in the standings.
 
Dmytro Khomchenovskyi and Yevhen Cheberko will not play against Shakhtar due to suspension. However, the team's top scorer Bohdan Lednev rejoins the team after his suspension (8 goals).
                                                 
Head-to-head record
 
In 41 matches, Shakhtar won 35 times, Zorya won on 5 occasions, a draw was registered only once. The goal difference is 104-27.
  
Previous league meeting
 
In the first stage in Kharkiv, Shakhtar won 4-0. By the 36th minute, Zorya had a 2-goal lead (Yurchenko and Kocherhin scored), but Luis Castro’s men responded before the break: Taison played one-two with Ismaily sent it right into the top right-hand corner - 1-2. In the 53rd minute, Marlos equalized, then Moraes brought the Orange-Blacks in front for the first time in the match. Lednev then equalised, and the decisive chance was created in the 89th minute by Konoplyanka, with Moraes flicking it into the unguarded net.