U21. Shakhtar vs Chornomorets: preview

Shakhtar are topping the league table, with 29 points scored in 12 games. The team of Valeriy Kryventsov has the best goal difference figures in the league: 35-7, with the scorers list being topped by Mykyta Adamenko (8 goals) and Andrii Boriachuk (7).

Both goalscorers missed the previous round game against Kropyvnytskyi-based Zirka, in which the Donetsk failed to score against the underdogs (0-0). Adamenko has recovered from illness, with all Shakhtar players preparing for the encounter with Chornomorets with the exception of the goalkeeper Vladyslav Trescheiko. Shakhtar have no suspended players.

Referee – Serhii Dankovskyi (Kyiv)
Assistant referees – Yevhen Petrakov, Andrii Lytvyn (both from Kyiv)
Fourth official – Klym Zabroda (Kyiv)
Referee observer – Oleksandr Shamych (Kiev)

Chornomorets U21 team kicked off the season with four defeats in a row, however, the Odesans have not suffered a single defeat after the matchday four. During this time, they managed to claim four wins, including the ones over Dnipro (2-1) and Dynamo (3-1), alongside four draws. Thus, the team of Henadiy Nyzhehorodov are sitting in the fifth spot in the league table with 16 points (goal difference: 16-12). The Sailors’ most prolific player is Mykhailo Popov, who scored three goals in 12 matches.

In the previous round, Chornomorets had a home draw vs Vorskla (0-0). Two minutes away from time, Vladyslav Schetynyn got a yellow card, which is his fourth this season, this fact will not allow the Chornomorets defender play against Shakhtar.

Within the reserve team premiership and the U21 championship, the teams had 23 meetings. 13 wins belong to Shakhtar, four wins belong to Chornomorets, and another six games ended in a draw. The goal difference is 46-31 in favour of the Orange-and-Blacks.

Last season, both games were won by Shakhtar: 3-2 in Schaslyve and 4-1 in Odesa. In the first half of the current league season, the opponents met on the pitch of Chornomorets. In the first half, Giorgi Arabidze sent home Oleksandr Pikhalyonok’s assist, with Mykyta Adamenko scoring after the break. The hosts managed to draw one back owing to a precision shot by Schetynyn, but the win still belongs to the Pitmen (2-1).

Shakhtar won 9 of the last 10 games against Odesa and drew once. The goal difference in those meetings: 28-7 in favour of the Orange-and-Blacks.

The run of clean sheets of the Shakhtar goalkeeper Yevhen Hrytsenko has been lasting for 360 minutes now. Respectively, Shakhtar have not conceded any goals in the four recent games. At the same time, Chornomorets have been enjoying an unbeaten run since mid-August. It comprises 8 games.