U21. Stal vs Shakhtar: preview

After 5 rounds, Shakhtar are leading the standings with 13 points (goal difference 16-3). Last Saturday, the Pitmen made a comeback in a match against Dnipro. After conceding a goal in the first-half, Valeriy Kyiventsov's squad showed character and thanks to goals by Oleksandr Pikhalyonok and Mykyta Adamenko beat their principal opponents 2-1. The Orange-and-Blacks' midfielder Adamenko is also the leading striker of the league having scored five goals.

Defenders Taras Kocharaba, Mykola Matviyenko, and team captain Oleksandr Pikhalyonok fell out of Shakhtar's training process due to their participation in the three-day camp of Ukraine's U21 team, which was hedl August 22-24 in Kyiv.

Referee – Yaroslav Kozyk (Mukacheve)
Assistant referees – Leonid Yarmolinskyi (Kyiv), Taras Klimenko (Kyiv)
Fourth official – Klim Zaboroda (Kyiv)
Referee observer – Vasul Melnychuk (Simferopol)

Stal Kamianske debuted in the U21 league last season. Headed by Serhii Shyshchenko they finished fourth in the standings. In summer, Yegishe Melikyan was appointed head coach of the reserve team. He previously worked with the U19 team and in the coaching staff of the first team. The club includes students of the Club Academy born in 1997 and 1998, as well as a few more experienced players (Pavliuk, Zaderaka, Klak).

Stal U21 started the 2016/17 season with two draws: home game with Karpaty (1-1) and away with Dnipro (202). After that the Kamianka team thrashed Volyn (9-0) and almost beat Dynamo (1-1), after conceding from the Kyiv team in the dying seconds. In the 5th round Stal suffered their first defeat of the season, losing in an away game against Vorskla (1-4), with defender Hleb Hrachev having been sent off and now missing the match with Shakhtar. At the moment, the Steelworkers are 7th in the U21 championship standings (6 points, goal difference 14-8).

In the previous season U21 teams of Shakhtar and Stal held their first match. The rivals had a draw (1-1) in Shchaslyve. A goal by Kozak was cancelled out with a precise shot by the Pitmen's Serhiy Horbunov.

In a match of the second half of the season in Liutezh, Stal had been in the lead twice, but the game ended with a Shakhtar win (4-2). Klimchuk scored a brace for the home team, and Sahutkin, Pikhalyonok, Arabidze and Zubkov distinguished themselves for the Orange-and-Blacks.

The upcoming match will see a game between the top scoring teams of the league: the Pitmen scored 16 goals and Stal scored 14.

Shakhtar defender Mykyta Adamenko continues his scoring streak having distinguished himself five games in a row.