Preview

May 6, Kyiv, NSC Olimpiyskiy, 19:00

Match build-up

Despite the away meeting status, Shakhtar will play in Kyiv. The nominal hosts will be Minaj who cannot host this match in Uzhgorod at 19:00 (this matchday’s every fixture kicks off at this time) for technical reasons. In the current league campaign, the Miners have played at the NSC Olimpiyskiy on 13 occasions: 11 times as hosts and twice as visitors (vs Dynamo and Mariupol).

Last Saturday, Luis Castro's men defeated Dnipro-1 2-1 at the same venue - Dentinho and Tete scored a goal each in the first half, while the opponents pulled one back in stoppage time. Before the start of the current round, the Miners were four points ahead of Zorya, but the Luhansk side defeated the same Dnipro-1 (1-0) and reduced the gap to a point. Shakhtar need just a victory to secure their Champions League qualification berth.

Opponents

Shakhtar may well send Minaj down to the First League - the club from the village of the same name sits bottom of the UPL table, and three points adrift of Olimpik. On April 17, the Transcarpathians defeated Desna in Uzhgorod (3-1), later suffering three defeats: in the postponed game vs Lviv (0-1), then in the pre-scheduled games vs Dnipro-1 (0-3) and Zorya (0-1). In the last round, Minaj will have to lock horns with Vorskla.

The club's official website reported that Anatolii Nuriyev got injured in training. He is one of the Minaj leaders, in any case being the club’s top scorer this season (10 goals in the UPL, including six spot-kick goals). He also put his name on the scoresheet in the first stage vs Shakhtar: he took a free-kick, Trubin tried to turn the bouncing ball for a corner only to see it hit the back of the net off the goalpost. Another midfielder Andrii Tkachuk will miss the game in Kyiv due to suspension.

Previous meeting

On December 5, Shakhtar thrashed their opponents 5-1. The first two goals were netted by Bolbat and Fernando with just a minute between them, the third one was scored by Solomon, the fourth and fifth goals were notched up after the break: Matviienko backheeled a free-kick delivery into the far corner, Viunnyk’s attempt hit the net off Lopyryonok who was recorded as the scorer of an own goal.