Preview

September 1, Kharkiv, OSK Metalist, 19:30
Live broadcast on the Futbol 2 TV channel

Before the match

The Orange-and-Blacks are preparing for the next round after three consecutive wins. In the matches against Vorskla, Lviv and Olimpik, Paulo Fonseca’s men scored a total of 11 goals. The striker Junior Moraes grabbed his first hat-trick, Marlos scored his 50th goal for Shakhtar.
 
On Thursday, the champions held a training session in Kyiv in the presence of reporters who were able to pose questions to Paulo Fonseca, Taras Stepanenko and Junior Moraes. The Miners are expecting a tough encounter with Mariupol. On August 31, the team went to Kharkiv, conducting an evening session for the fans at the OSC Metalist.
 
We want to point out that the recovered Sergii Kryvtsov is on the player list for the game.
 
Opponents
 
In the current league season, Mariupol have had five games (the meeting with Dynamo was postponed), sitting in the second spot from the bottom. In the two rounds where Oleksandr Babich's men scored points (vs Arsenal-Kyiv and Lviv), they conceded the openers. It is also interesting that the team’s goalkeeper and captain Rustam Khudzhamov has parried away three consecutive spot kicks in the Premier League, including the penalty kick by Bruno.
 
In addition to the league season kickoff, Mariupol spent a lot of energy in the Europa League this summer. In the second round of qualifying stage, Mariupol made it past the Swedish Djurgardens through Fomin's extra-time winner, losing to the French Bordeaux FC in the next stage.
 
Due to suspension, the midfielder Valerii Fedorchuk will not appear on the pitch in Kharkiv.
 
Head-to-head record
 
In 38 league games, Shakhtar proved stronger on 35 occasions, along with three draws. The goal difference is 99-25. At home, the champions secured 18 wins out of 19 in total (53-11).
 
Previous league meeting
 
On April 27, in Mariupol, Shakhtar tried to open up the hosts’ defence for over an hour. Before the break, Halchuk's goal was twice threatened by Zubkov, but the goalkeeper coped with the first attempt, with the second one going above the bar. The Orange-and-Blacks continued to attack after the break, scoring one in the 65th minute: Taison challenged for the ball and backheeled it to Ismaily, the defender rolled it into the open space to feed Kayode, with the latter sending one just home. The outcome is 1-0, a tough away win for the Miners.