Preview

April 21, Kharkiv, OSC Metalist, 17:00
Live broadcast on the Futbol 2 channel
 
Before the match
 
Shakhtar will play in Kharkiv for the second time in four days. Having defeated Mariupol in the cup semi-final, the Donetsk team focus on the league again, where they are just three points ahead of Dynamo Kyiv.
 
The Orange-and-Blacks are getting prepared for the meeting with Vorskla at OSC Metalist – they conducted an open training session for fans on April 20. Taison and Facundo Ferreyra will not participate in Saturday’s match due to suspension.
 
Opponents
 
The Miners are facing the encounter with the third best team in the table. Vorskla are sitting in the third spot, being seven points ahead of Zorya. After the March failures vs Shakhtar and Dynamo, Vasyl Sachko's men have not felt the bitterness of defeat in the last three rounds: the 0-0 draw vs Verus was followed by the clean-sheet wins at Mariupol (1-0) and at the pursuers Zorya (3-0).
 
In the last two matches, Mykhailo Serhiichuk appeared as a sub and scored goals. Viacheslav Sharpar will not appear on the pitch in Kharkiv due to his yellow-card suspension.
 
Head-to-head record
 
Out of 45 Ukrainian League meetings, 34 ended in favour of Shakhtar, with 9 draws and 2 wins by Vorskla. The Donetsk outfit have a noticeable scoring edge: 89-25.
 
The Miners’ home statistics are as follows: 22 games, 19 wins, 3 draws; 50-12.
 
Previous league game
 
The opponents started the second stage with a head-to-head encounter in Poltava. On March 9, two goals by Facundo Ferreyra and a precision spot kick by Marlos after the break secured a 3-0 away win for Shakhtar.