Ukraine poised for tasty entrée

The 17th edition of the Ukraine Premier League season kicks off this weekend and with the fates conspiring to pair FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donetsk, it promises to start with a bang.

Dynamo dominance
Dynamo claimed the title last term, easing past the finishing post eleven points ahead of nearest rivals Shakhtar as they made a clean sweep of the domestic silverware. They added another trophy to an overburdened cabinet on 4 July when an experimental young side surprisingly beat Shakhtar in the Ukraine Super Cup to make it three successive victories against their fierce rivals in 2007. Mircea Lucescu's team will therefore need little incentive to put that record straight in Donetsk on Sunday and they will certainly hold an element of surprise.

Sweeping changes
There have been sweeping changes at Shakhtar this summer. Ukrainian youngsters Andriy Pyatov, Olexiy Polyanskiy, Vladimir Priemov and Olexandr Gladky have all been snapped up yet their arrivals have been eclipsed by Friday's capture of prolific AS Livorno Calcio striker Cristiano Lucarelli. He may struggle to make Sunday's game, and there will be a number of other notable absentees. Zvonimir Vukić and Igor Duljaj are both injured and Anatoliy Tymoschuk long gone (to FC Zenit St. Petersburg), while Elano Blumer is on international duty with Brazil at the Copa América.

Dark horses
With that in mind Lucescu could do without midfielder Matuzalem insisting on a move away from Donetsk and Dynamo will fancy their chances of making a winning start to their bid to make it 13 titles in 17 years. FC Metalist Kharkiv and FC Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk are expected to provide a real challenge this term, while FC Chornomorets Odesa could also make an impact as commentators insist the days of the Dynamo-Shakhtar duopoly could be over. We will soon find out.