The trip to Ukraine is often seen as one of the toughest in the Champions League calendar, though Shakhtar's home advantage may be watered down as they themselves play on unfamiliar turf.
Shakhtar have not played at their Donbass Arena home since May as civil unrest affects eastern Ukraine - the stadium has even been damaged by shelling during the conflict - instead playing home fixtures some 760 miles away in Lviv.
Mircea Lucescu's men will be hoping a passionate atmosphere is recreated to help them improve further on an impressive history at this stage.
In their previous 13 group-stage home games, the Ukrainian champions have lost just twice, winning seven in the process.
But Porto are behind one of the defeats, having taken a 2-0 victory from the Donbass Arena in November 2011 thanks to Hulk and a Razvan Rat own goal.
They could find it tough to repeat against a side who have put off-field issues aside to start the season strongly.
Shakhtar kicked their season off with six straight wins and earned a creditable point at Athletic Bilbao in their Champions League opener.
A blip came in the shape of a 1-0 defeat to Zorya - a game that saw Shakhtar concede for the first time since August 1 - but they recovered to smash Poltava in the Ukrainian Cup last Thursday.
The big cup win also saw defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy, once a €25million man of Barcelona, make a first appearance since November 2013.
Chygrynskiy has been in Brazil overcoming a series of injuries triggered as a result of his right leg being shorter than his left - though the centre-back professed confidence in his new-found fitness.
"Now I feel free," he told Shakhtar's website. "This is not a question of confidence, but namely freedom. Let's just say that I completely feel my body: right foot, left, all movements."
The 27-year-old's return comes as a boost to Lucescu with centre-back Sergiy Kryvtsov facing six weeks out with an ankle injury, while Oleksandr Kucher is also a doubt.
Porto go into the game with the 6-0 demolition of BATE Borisov from matchday one fresh in the memory, and Julen Lopetegui's side salvaged a 1-1 draw at Sporting Lisbon on Friday to maintain their undefeated league record this season.
On-loan Atletico Madrid midfielder Oliver Torres returned for Porto in the draw at Sporting following a shoulder injury but Real Madrid loanee Casemiro is unavailable due to injury and Lopetegui has not called on Ricardo Quaresma or Diego Reyes for the Shakhtar clash.
