In the Ukrainian League 25th round, the Pitmen will play Karpaty away. We are bringing you the match preview.

8 May, Lviv, Arena Lviv, 19:30

Live broadcast on 2+2 TV channel

Before the match

In the previous match on the domestic scene, the Pitmen confidently beat Dynamo and reduced the gap to 4 points, but in actual fact, the competition table is already final with two league rounds to go. Shakhtar have claimed the second spot. Nevertheless, it is important for the Pitmen to retain concentration and composure in the remaining matches. The other day, the team’s head coach Mircea Lucescu mentioned the above.

Due to suspension, the upcoming game against Karpaty will be missed by Oleksandr Kucher and Taras Stepanenko.

Referee – Mykola Balakin (Kyiv oblast)

Assistant referees – Andriy Skrypka (Kirovohrad), Oleksandr Korniyko (Myrhorod)

Fourth official – Oleksandr Derdo (Chornomorsk)

Referee observer – Serhiy Dzyuba (Kyiv)

Opponents

Karpaty sit in the 7th spot in the standings and have very little chance to take a step up. Lviv can’t boast any particular performance consistency: after defeating Hoverla 3-0, they suffered the same big defeat at the hands of Vorskla. At the same time, Karpaty have a negative goal difference of 25-35.

Because of excessive yellow cards, a Karpaty defender Ambrose Chachua will not appear in the game vs Shakhtar. Besides, according to the team’s head coach, Vadym Strashkevych and Artur Karnoza are not likely to take part in the match.

Match background

The teams had 45 meetings in the domestic league. Shakhtar claimed 29 wins, Karpaty had just 9 wins, with 8 draws. The goal difference is 89-31 in favour of the Orange-Blacks.

22 games took part on Karpaty’s pitch. The hosts and Shakhtar claimed 9 wins each, with another 4 matches ending in a draw. The goal difference is 31-22 in favour of Donetsk.

Previous league meeting

In December last year, the teams played in Odesa. In the matchday 12 game, the Pitmen claimed a confident 3-0 win. It is noteworthy that all the goals were scored after the break. Eduardo got himself on the scoresheet on 56 minutes, and during the closing 5 minutes Ismaily and Teixeira extended the Pitmen’s lead.

Interesting facts

The most frequent score is 1-0 (recorded 10 times).

Shakhtar’s goalscoring league run against Karpaty comprises 9 matches.

In the previous round, the teams produced the opposite results: Shakhtar thrashed Dynamo 3-0, while Karpaty lost 0-3 to Vorskla.