Preview

November 10, Poltava, Ltava stadium, 13:00
 
Before the match
 
Since the beginning of the season, the Miners have scored 25 points (goal difference 25–18), currently sitting in the 5th spot in the table. In the previous round, the team suffered their first defeat in 2.5 months and broke the unbeaten run of 9 games. Now, the Orange-and-Blacks can launch another run, especially since in the last 3 games in Poltava they have suffered no defeats (2 wins and a draw).
 
Shakhtar U21 went away without a number of footballers: Yukhym Konoplia and Dmytro Pavlish are injured, Oleksii Kaschuk, Artem Holod and Dmytro Kryskiv stayed in Shchaslyve. We also want to note that the U21 league’s top scorer Andrii Kulakov (8 goals) took part in Wednesday’s UEFA Youth League game in Manchester.
 
Opponents 
 
Vorskla U21 are competing for one of the top 6 spots in the U21 league. Currently, Poltava have 18 points (goal difference 17-19), sitting in the 8th place. Mariupol have the same number of points, with Zorya having one point less before this round. Two consecutive victories over Olimpik (3-0) and over Lviv (3-2) should give Oleksandr Omelchuk’s men more confidence. Interestingly, the Green-and-Whites remain the only ones in the league to have had no draws: 6 wins and 8 losses (home balance is 2 to 5).
 
Head-to-head record
 
In the U21 league, the opponents had 30 encounters. Shakhtar claimed 15 wins, the Poltava side claimed 10 wins, another 5 meetings ended in a draw. The aggregate goal difference is 60–44 in favour of the Orange-and-Blacks. Last season and this season, they have had 3 wins each and a draw.
 
Previous game
 
August 10, 2018. Shchaslyve, round 4
 
Shakhtar Donetsk U21 0-2 Vorskla Poltava U21 
 
Goals: 0- 1 Taraduda (26’), 0-2 Lyha (76’)
 
Shakhtar U21: Kudryk, Konoplia, Bondar (c), Mate (Holod, 79’), Korniienko, Chekh, Ihnatenko (Kryskiv, 68’), Mudryk (Hlahola, 55’), Topalov, Zubkov, Vasylevych (Dudik, 69’)