Preview

Before the match
 
After seven rounds, Shakhtar are topping the league table, being 2 points ahead of Dynamo. Before the international break, the team of Paulo Fonseca claimed a come-from-behind win in Lviv over Rivne-based Veres, responding to Valerii Fedorchuk's goal with the precision shots by Marlos and Dentinho.
 
Saturday's meeting with Zorya will open the round 8. The suspended Yaroslav Rakits’kyy and Marlos will miss the Donbass derby. Maksym Malyshev has undergone surgery and will be recovering for about six months.

Opponents
 
Zorya unsuccessfully started their 2017/18 league campaign. In four starting rounds, the previous league’s bronze medalists had no wins: they lost to Stal and Olimpik, being tied with Mariupol and Oleksandriia. Yurii Vernydub’s men partially managed to rectify the situation already in August through the victories over Veres (1-0) and Chornomorets (5-0).

Shakhtar’s opponents are sitting in the 7th spot. Along with Zorya, Mariupol and Zirka have 8 points.

In the middle of the week, Artem Hordiienko and Yevhen Opanasenko returned to the general group. However, the duration of Vladyslav Kalitvintsev’s recovery is unknown. We want to add that Dmytro Hrechyshkin and suspended Ihor Kharatin will not appear vs Shakhtar either.
 
After the game in Kharkiv, Zorya will start preparing for the Europa League campaign. On September 14, the Luhansk side will entertain Estersund, Sweden.
 
Head-to-head record
 
The teams had 32 Ukrainian league meetings. The advantage belongs to Shakhtar: 28 wins vs 4. The goal difference is 85-19.
 
On their field, the Donetsk team won 13 games out of 16. The goal difference is 38-10.
 
Previous league meeting
 
On May 6, Shakhtar claimed the tenth championship early after defeating Zorya in Kharkiv. The result was achieved through the goals by Ferreyra, Ismaily and Ordets. In the closing 10 minutes, the men of Yurii Vernydub reduced the deficit through accurate shots by Kharatyn and Bonaventure, with the Miners still claiming a 3-2 win.