The central match of another round of the Ukrainian Premier League will be held in Kharkiv at Metalist Stadium, where Shakhtar Donetsk will play against Dynamo Kyiv. The Pitmen play more and with more enthusiasm in the East of Ukraine, the Moles’ results in Kharkiv are decent, the public visits matches of the team with pleasure. Shakhtar are the obvious and well-earned favorites in the upcoming game even despite the absence of any tournament motivation.
Shaktar Donetsk have long become the champions of the country, therefore there’s not much to say about the Moles’ motivation in the Premier League. Fonseca’s team has 79 points in the asset after 30 matches, 18 points more, than Dynamo. Within the last eight matches, Shakhtar won seven times with one draw in a match against Olimpik. The Pitmen are in a terrific shape and the team concludes its championship season with dignity.
As for Dynamo, they are in a deep crisis, which got worse after the loss in the Ukrainian Cup final. After the match in Kharkiv, Dynamo managed to lose to Zorya Luhansk at their home ground with a score of 1:2, and before that there was an away loss from Olimpik with the same 1:2 result. All in all, Dynamo have three defeats in a row in various domestic competitions. With such terrible statistics, there is no surprise, that the team from the capital of Ukraine approaches the upcoming matches in the status of a clear underdog.
Two encounters are left for Shakhtar this season: against Dynamo in Kharkiv and against Oleksandria away. There’s no doubt, that the Moles will once again perform at their best with the Kievans and probably defeat the team from Kyiv again.
Prediction for the match: Shakhtar to win.
