Football fans of our country have long been waiting for this central match of the 29th round of the Ukrainian Premier League. It will bring together two main contenders for the title of champion of Ukraine – Shakhtar and Dnipro-1. Of course, the defeat in the previous round sharply reduced the chances of the Dnipro team for gold medals. But all the same, the spectators will be watching with particular attention the confrontation between the best Ukrainian clubs today.
Miner
On Wednesday, the miners won a very important match of the 28th round against Zorya Lugansk with a score of 3:0 and made a confident step towards the intended goal. Already in the debut of the game, they were clearly helped by a quick goal by Georgy Sudakov. And after the opponent remained in the minority at the beginning of the second half, it became clear that Shakhtar would not let go and achieve a positive result. So in the end it happened. Artem Bondarenko and Kelsey further brought the result to a devastating one, which made their mentor very happy.
– Today there was a game that I think you liked, – Igor Jovicevich said at the post-match press conference. – Intensity, competent tactical training, how we prepared the match during the week and how we showed ourselves today, I think that this is one of the best matches of the season. These are very important three points for us, but the championship is not over yet. We are missing one step. I think the team is ready physically, emotionally and tactically to take this step. Of course, it will not be easy against a very good rival Dnipro-1. Hope everything works out okay.
We add that the defender Bohdan Mikhailichenko, who missed the game with Zorya due to disqualification, will already be able to take part in the upcoming match. It is also likely that Marian Shved will appear on the field, who has already recovered from an injury, was in the application for the previous match, but did not come out as a substitute. But on Lassina Traore, Ivan Petryak, Viktor Kornienko and Dmitry Riznyk, who continue to remain on sick leave, most likely, it is too early to count. It’s a blessing for the miners that even without these players they have a large selection of performers.
Dnepr-1
Having lost the match to Vorskla 1:2, the players of Dnipro-1 not only crossed out their ambitions for the championship, but complicated their task to the limit. Purely theoretically, they can still finish first, for which it is necessary to beat Shakhtar first and Kryvbas in the last round. And then hope that the Poltava club will do the same with the miners, as well as with themselves. However, this is hard to believe.
On the other hand, Zorya is supporting Dnipro from below, which has not yet lost the chance to win silver medals and qualify for the Champions League qualification. Therefore, if the wards of Oleksandr Kucher are strongly obsessed with what is happening at the top of the standings, they, in an unsuccessful scenario, may miss out on second place. So here it is necessary to weigh all the pros and cons. Sometimes a titmouse in the hands is more reliable than a crane in the sky.
And the captain of Dnipro-1 Oleksandr Svatok will not be able to take part in the clash with Shakhtar. In a harmless situation in the 52nd minute of the match with Vorskla, he received a warning for talking with the referee, which was his fourth of the season. Interestingly, five minutes later, an experienced defender was replaced. Apparently, the coaching staff already then began to prepare for the game with the Pitmen without their captain.
Themis
The match between the two leading teams of the country will be judged by one of the best referees in Ukraine from Kharkiv Ekaterina Monzul. This season, she led Shakhtar four times (3 wins and one draw) and two times Dnipro-1 (1 win and 1 loss). The game will also have a VAR system.
Match statistics
The teams played 7 matches in the Ukrainian Premier League. In them 6 times success was on the side of Shakhtar and only 1 time won by Dnipro-1. Moreover, the Dnipro team won this victory in the first round of the current championship, when they defeated the miners in Uzhgorod with a score of 2:1. Alexander Pikhalyonok and Artem Dovbik scored goals for the winners, and Mikhail Mudrik for the losers.
Approximate compositions:
“Miners”: Trubin, Hemp, Rakitsky, Matvienko, Mikhailichenko, Stepanenko, Bondarenko, Kryskiv, Sudakov, Zubkov, Sikan
“Dnepr-1”: Rybak, Matarryta, Sarapiy, Adamyuk, Pasych, Rubchinsky, Babenko, Peglow, Pykhalenok, Hutsuliak, Dovbyk
Forecast for the confrontation:
I would like to believe that the match will be held in an honest and uncompromising fight and without refereeing scandals. We expect to see beautiful football. Suppose that the opponents score one goal each and the meeting ends in a draw 1:1.
May 28, Sunday
