Former player of Kyiv's Dynamo, Ukrainian coach Oleg Kuznetsov shared his expectations for the central match of the 11th round of the Ukrainian championship Dynamo — Shakhtar, which will take place on Sunday, October 27.
— «Shakhtar» will have an advantage over «Dynamo» in preparation for the clasico. Two days is a serious difference in terms of recovery, first of all. If all the main players of the «white and blue» played against «Roma» in the Europa League, then from Thursday to Sunday they certainly would not have had enough time to recover. However, the coaching staff of Kyiv's Dynamo planned everything so that most of the “main” players played against «Roma» for a maximum of half an hour.
«Shakhtar» perfectly understands the significance of the match with «Dynamo». This is not just a game, as they traditionally say, for 6 points, but a game that could be for 9 points, and actually, for a triumph in this entire Ukrainian championship. I believe that if «Dynamo» beats the miners, they won't give gold to anyone.
Pushych's team is struggling to earn points this season, yet the miners will be getting pumped up before the clasico. Therefore, it's hard to say who will be the favorite in this match. It is clear that anything can happen in a one-off game.
As for the most glaring shortcomings of our giants, right now «Shakhtar» has a weak defense, especially the full-backs. However, Dynamo's defense also makes quite a few mistakes. Moreover, the miners' attack is not in good shape either. Traore looks poor, so most likely Sikhan will play, but this mask hinders him, and it's noticeable… So what we saw at the fore of Shakhtar's attack against «Roma» from Eginald is not because of good circumstances.
In «Dynamo» I would note some positive moments: in attack Vanat has come to life, who can score against «Shakhtar», and the midfield is playing quite decently. However, the miners will also have their trump card — after Euro-2024, Sudakov finally arrived at full fitness, who hadn't looked like himself for almost 2.5 months, said the expert.