The second round of the Ukrainian Premier League starts today with matches between L'viv Bereg vs Vorskla and Veres vs Dynamo and will continue until Monday, when LNZ and Oleksandriya will play the final match of the round. UNN decided to tell you with what mood the teams approach the matches, who is the bookmakers' favorite and where to watch the UPL matches.
L'viv Bereg vs Vorskla
The second round of the UPL season will be opened by Kyiv's Left Bank and Poltava's Vorskla. The starting whistle will be blown at 15:30 at the Arena Livyi Bereh stadium in Kyiv.
Both teams started with defeats in the Ukrainian championship, although in the match against LNZ, "Livyi Bereh" could have taken historic points, but conceded in the third time added by the referee, losing 1-0.
Instead, Vorskla was mercilessly defeated by Shakhtar (5-0) on their own field, barely managing to create a truly dangerous moment at the Pitmen's goal.
It is also worth noting that the teams have never met in their history, which will make the match somewhat historic.
Facts
After the defeat in the match against Shakhtar, Vorskla suffered its 20th crushing defeat on their home ground.
Serhiy Dolgansky is a longtime captain of Vorskla and now the head coach of Poltava. Under him, the team suffered its 10th defeat in the UPL in 14 games.
Thanks to its debut in the UPL, L'viv Bereg became the 50th club in the history of the Ukrainian championships.
Vorskla players Ihor Perduta and Oleksandr Sklyar are playing their 14th season in the UPL.
Ihor Perduta and Oleksandr Skliar
"Left Bank will play its 1st home match in the UPL.
"Vorskla has not won in the UPL in 5 games: a draw and 4 defeats. In the previous 3 away matches of the UPL, the White and Greens did not score points.
Vorskla midfielders Artem Chelyadin and Andriy Batsula may play their 100th match in the UPL.
Bookmakers do not favor either team. You can bet on Left Bank with odds of 2.8, and on Vorskla's victory - 2.6. The draw is 3.4.
Veres vs
The final match on Friday will be played in Rivne between Veres and Dynamo Kyiv. The Rivne team had more time to prepare for the match, as Dynamo played Scottish Rangers on Tuesday as part of the Champions League qualifiers.
Kyiv had a great opportunity to secure the advantage before the match with a response in Glasgow, but conceded at the end of the match - 1:1.
"Dynamo missed the first round of the UPL against Oleksandriya due to their participation in the Champions League, while Veres met another UPL debutant, Lviv's Karpaty, and drew a dry draw.
Traditionally, for the third season in a row, the teams failed to score in the first match of the first round.
The teams have met 19 times in their history, with Veres winning only once. It happened in 2018, when the Rivne team beat Kyiv 3-1 at the Lviv Arena. Back then, Stanislav Kulish, Serhiy Siminin, who was sent off in the 72nd minute, and Ruslan Stepaniuk, who still plays for Veres, brought the team a historic victory.
In the rest of the matches, including the Ukrainian Cup and friendly games, Kyiv won 14. Two more matches ended in a draw - two in the cup and two in the league. The most productive match was 7:0 in favor of Dynamo in the Ukrainian championship back in 1995.
Facts
In the match against Karpaty, Veres managed to break a streak of concessions in the UPL, which lasted 8 games, in which the team conceded 13 goals. Last season, this streak began in April. It also became one of the longest streaks of conceding goals in the history of the Rivne club's performances at the elite level.
Veres' winless home streak in the UPL lasts 5 games: 2 wins and 3 draws.
The bookmakers give Dynamo a confident victory - 1.4 odds. Veres has odds of 8.7, and the draw is 4.95.
Chornomorets vs
The second day of the matchday starts on Saturday at 15:30 with a match between Chornomorets Odesa and Zorya Luhansk. In the first round, Chornomorets narrowly lost to Kryvbas (1-0), while Zorya snatched a victory from Ingulets in the last minutes of the match, which returned to the top flight.
The teams have met 72 times, including the USSR Championship and Cup. Since their independence, the teams have played 39 games in the UPL, with Zorya winning 16 and Chornomorets one less - 15. Another 8 matches were tied.
In 2007, Chornomorets defeated Zorya 4-0, which is the most devastating victory for the Odesa team.
In 2017, Zorya defeated Chornomorets with a crushing 5-0 score.
The goal difference is 53:45 in favor of Zorya.
Facts
"Last round, Chornomorets lost the 200th away match in the history of the Ukrainian Championship (also the 5th consecutive away match in the UPL, and their goalless away streak increased to 450 minutes).
In the match against Kryvbas, Chornomorets head coach Oleksandr Babych played his 40th away match in charge of the Odesa team (since his return).
Oleksandr Babych
In the last round, Zorya player Roman Vantukh played his 100th match in the UPL.
Roman Vantukh
Bookmakers favor Zorya, which can be bet on with odds of 2. Bookmakers give 3.8 for Chornomorets to win, and 3.65 for a draw.
Kolos vs Ingulets
The final match on Saturday will be played by Kolos Kovalivka and Ingulets Petrivsk. The match at the Kolos Stadium in Kovalivka, Kyiv region, will start at 18:00. As noted earlier, Ingulets lost to Zorya in the last round, while Kovalivka played to a 2-2 draw with Obolon.
In total, the teams met 16 times, with Kolos winning 4 times and Ingulets 5 times. Another 7 matches resulted in a draw. The teams have met 6 times in the UPL: 2 wins for Kolos, one for Ingulets and 3 draws.
"Ingulets defeated Kolos twice with a crushing score - twice 4-0.
Facts
One of the main heroes of Kolos in the match against Obolon was defender Andriy Tsurikov, who scored twice in the Brewers' goal. Tsurikov scored his first double in the UPL in the 216th game in the elite division. In doing so, Andriy repeated the record for the most recent double, which had been held by former Dynamo player Serhiy Sydorchuk for almost three years.
Another historic event took place in Kyiv for Tsurikov: Andriy's first goal for Obolon was his 20th in the UPL. In addition, Tsurikov scored Kolos' 10th double.
In addition, Tsurikov is playing his 14th season in the UPL.
Andriy Tsurikov
Kolos players also drew away from home for the first time in 2024. Prior to that, since December 2023, the team had either lost or won away games.
In the last round, Ingulets conceded the 100th goal in the UPL.
In this match, bookmakers favor Kolos with odds of 2.05. Ingulets' victory is at 3.8, and the draw is at 3.5.
Obolon - Rukh
The first match of Sunday's UPL will be played by Obolon from Kyiv and Rukh from Vynnyky at the Obolon Arena at 13:00. In the last match, Obolon played a 2-2 draw with Kolos, while Rukh missed the first round due to the Olympics in Paris, as most of the team's players represented the Ukrainian national team.
The teams have met only 8 times, including 6 times in the First League. In the top division, the teams played only two games, in which two draws were recorded - 2:2 and 0:0.
In total, the rivals have two victories over each other, and the remaining 6 matches ended in a draw.
Facts
In the last match, Kyiv midfielder Oleh Slobodian scored his first goal in the top flight. It took him 18 games to do it.
Oleg Slobodian
The bookmakers favor Rukh, whose victory can be bet on at odds of 2.3. Obolon's victory is at 3.4, and the draw is at 3.25.
Karpaty vs Kryvbas
Another match on Sunday will take place at the Ukraina Stadium, where local side Karpaty will face Kryvbas from Kryvyi Rih. The match will start at 15:30. As noted earlier, in the last round, Karpaty played Veres to a zero-zero draw, while Kryvbas narrowly defeated Chornomorets 1-0.
In the recent history of Karpaty and Kryvbas, the teams have met only once in a friendly match last year. Then Lviv proved to be stronger - 1:0.
For reference
Lviv Karpaty were founded in 1963, but the club was disbanded in July 2021. In 2020, another club with the same name was established in Lviv.
On July 18, 2024, Karpaty became the legal successor of the disbanded Karpaty. On July 18, 2024, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne sent its decision in CAS 2023/A/9809, which confirmed the previous decision of FIFA on the claim of the former player of the Karpaty Professional Football Club Cristobal Marquez Crespo, in particular, that FC Karpaty is the sports successor of KPF Karpaty.
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih was founded in 1959 and disbanded in 2013. In 2020, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially instructed the Kryvyi Rih political elite to return Kryvbas to professional football. On August 20, 2020, another Kryvyi Rih club that played in the Second League, Girnyk, officially changed its name to Kryvbas.
Taking these facts into account, the teams played a total of 45 matches, including the USSR championships. The last time they played before the disbandment of both teams was in 2013 - 3:2 in favor of Kryvbas.
In total, the teams met 36 times in the top division, with 20 wins for Karpaty, 9 for Kryvbas, and a draw in 9 matches. The goal difference is 63:41 in favor of Karpaty.
"Karpaty once defeated Kryvbas 6-0, which is the biggest victory for Lviv. Kryvbas' biggest victories over Karpaty were 3-0 and 5-2.
Facts
In the last round, Kryvbas head coach Yuriy Vernydub played 280 matches in charge of various UPL clubs. In Ukraine, Vernydub worked with Metalurh as an acting coach, Luhansk Zorya and Kryvbas.
Yuriy Vernydub
Also in the last round, Kryvbas player Yegor Tverdokhlib scored the first goal of the new UPL season against Chornomorets.
Yegor Tverdokhlib
Last round, Kryvbas striker Artur Mykytyshyn made two curious moments. First, the forward hit the club bus of Odesa while shooting at Chornomorets' goal. In the second moment, Mykytyshyn again shot higher, hitting the scoreboard and breaking a piece of the screen.
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Last round, Karpaty's right back Pavlo Polehenko made his debut in his 8th team in the elite division. Prior to that, Polehenko played for Goverla, Zirka, Mariupol, Desna, Ingulets, Lviv and Zorya.
Pavlo Polehenko
Also in the last round, Karpaty midfielder Yan Kostenko received his first sending off in the new UPL season.
Jan Kostenko
The opening match of the season marked a significant anniversary: Vladyslav Lupashko (Karpaty) became the 300th head coach in the elite division in the history of the Ukrainian Championships.
Vladislav Lupashko
Bookmakers favor Kryvbas at 2.2. The coefficient on the victory of the Carpathians is slightly lower - 3.4. The odds for a draw are also 3.4.
Shakhtar vs.
The final match on Sunday will be played between Shakhtar Donetsk and Polissya Zhytomyr. The Donetsk team is in high spirits, thanks to a 5-0 victory over Vorskla in the last round. Instead, Zhytomyr need to rehabilitate themselves in front of the fans for their 2-0 and 2-1 defeats at the hands of Olimpiya, which resulted in the team's elimination from the Conference League.
Within the Premier League, the teams have met only twice - last season. In the 15th round of the 2023/2024 season, "dry zeros" were recorded, and in the final round of the UPL, which no longer decided anything for the Pitmen, as they secured the title, Shakhtar lost to Zhytomyr 2-0.
Facts
In the last round, Shakhtar scored its 15th UPL victory over Vorskla, including the first with a score of 5-0.
Also in the last round, Donetsk defender Mykola Matvienko scored his first double in the new UPL season and became the author of Shakhtar's 210th double in the league.
Mykola Matvienko
Shakhtar head coach Marino Pušić played his 30th match in charge of the miners.
Marino Pušić
Shakhtar midfielder and captain Taras Stepanenko was among the players who took to the field in the first round of the 2024/25 season. Stepanenko is playing his 19th season in the UPL.
According to this indicator, Stepanenko has caught up with Ruslan Rotan and Viacheslav Checher, with whom he now shares the 5th-7th places in the "seasonal" rating.
The ranking is headed by Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, a longtime Dynamo goalkeeper and current head coach of Kyiv , who has played in 24 seasons.
Taras Stepanenko
In addition, for the first time since 2017, the Donetsk club started with a big score at the start of the Ukrainian championship. Back then, Paulo Fonseca's team also defeated Vorskla in the first match on their home ground. However, it was a little more modest - 3-0.
The bookmakers give Shakhtar a confident victory at 1.3. You can bet on Polissia at odds of 10.5. You can bet on a draw in the match at odds of 5.5.
LNZ vs
The final match of the round will be played on Monday by LNZ Cherkasy and Oleksandriya from the city of the same name in Kirovohrad region. In the first round, LNZ defeated UPL debutant L'viv Bereg in the last few seconds - 1-0.
Oleksandriya missed their match against Dynamo Kyiv due to the team's participation in European competitions.
The teams have met twice in the Premier League. Once, there was a zero-zero draw, and in the second game, LNZ narrowly defeated Oleksandriya 2-1.
Facts
LNZ head coach Andrés Carrasco became the sixth Spanish coach in the history of the Ukrainian Championship and only the second to start with a victory.
Andres Carrasco
"LNZ increased the club's record series in the UPL: the winning streak to 4 matches and the drawless streak to 8: 6 wins and 2 losses.
Bookmakers favor the hosts in this match at 2.4. The visitors are bet with odds of 3.3, and the match will be a draw with odds of 3.2.
Championship table after the first round
All matches will be available to watch on the UPL TV channel. It is available on many providers, OTT platforms, and cable networks (Setanta Sports, sweet.tv, Omega TV, Volya TV, Kyivstar TV, Vodafone TV, etc.