Kharkiv - Shakhtar: match preview on the "Shakhtar" website
In the 3rd round of the UPL, "Shakhtar" will face "Kharkiv" in an away match
August 16, Kyiv, "Levyi Bereh", 15:30
Live broadcast - UPL.TV
Before the match
"Shakhtar" started the new championship with victories in the first two rounds. First, Arda Turan's team defeated "Kudrivka" (5:1), and a week ago won away against "Epicenter" (2:0) thanks to goals from Oleg Ocheretko and Yegor Nazarina. The top scorer of the Donetsk team this season is Brazilian forward Kauan Elias, who has scored 3 goals so far. Before the match with "Kharkiv," the "orange-black" team mainly prepared in Lviv, with one of the training sessions attended by the head coach of the Ukrainian national team Andrea Maldera. A day before the game, the team had a training session in Kyiv. In terms of squad news, the return to training in the general group of midfielder Dmytro Kryskiv is worth noting.
Opponent
"Kharkiv," which finished in the top five in the previous UPL season, has ambitions to compete for a spot in the European competitions zone in the new season. The team had a busy offseason, playing 9 friendly matches (1 win, 2 draws, 6 losses), and the club is actively working in the transfer market: goalkeeper Georgiy Yermakov, defender Artem Smolyakov, midfielders Oleksandr Yatsyk and Rafael Profini, forward Carlos Paraco have already joined the "citizens." Mladen Bartulovich's team opened the new championship with a victory over "Veres" (1:0), but in the second round, they suffered an away defeat to "Polissya" (1:3). Currently, "Kharkiv" with 3 points (goal difference: 2–3) is in the middle of the standings.
Head-to-head history
"Shakhtar" and "Kharkiv" have played 7 matches in the UPL: 5 wins for the "miners," 2 draws. The overall goal difference is 15–2 in favor of the "orange-black" team.
Previous meeting
On March 15, the teams met at the "Arena Lviv" in a UPL match. The fate of the tense confrontation was decided by a single goal, scored by Pedrinho from a penalty kick in the 62nd minute. 1:0 - victory for "Shakhtar."
The match "Kharkiv" - "Shakhtar" will be officiated by a team of referees led by Oleksandr Shandor. Assistants - Ruslan Yermolenko and Denys Marchenko. VAR referee - Viktor Kopiyevsky. VAR assistant referee - Semen Shlonchak.
