Starting today and until Monday evening, Ukrainian fans will enjoy the sixth round of the Ukrainian Premier League, which returns after a break due to national team games, in which, unfortunately, our compatriots showed terrible results. This weekend, we will find out whether Oleksandriya, Polissya and Rukh will be able to maintain their leadership positions, whether Karpaty and Zorya will be able to challenge the giants and who will eventually get out of the relegation zone. UNN decided to tell you how the teams approach the matches after the international break, who is the bookmakers' favorite and where to watch UPL matches.
Loser vs. leader
On Friday, Obolon, the loser of the current UPL draw, will be visited by the championship leader Oleksandriya. The teams went into the break in completely different positions. “Pivovary have never won in the current campaign, while Oleksandriya have won all their matches in the current draw.
During the international break, Valery Ivashchenko, the coach of the Kyiv team, left the team. Kyiv president Oleksandr Slobodian, commenting on the decision to fire Ivashchenko, said that the coach “had a great deal of trust, which he did not use.”
Valeriy Ivashchenko is a former Obolon coach
“It is clear that one point out of 15 and 16th place were the last straw for me. The limit of patience was crossed. He was given a chance to fix the situation. I am not a person who tends to change coaches often. Ivashchenko had a lot of trust, which he did not use,” Slobodian said.
Instead, Ivashchenko, who had spent 15 years in Obolon's structure, said he was surprised by the management's decision to terminate his cooperation.
Serhiy Shyshchenko, who took over Polissia last season after Yuriy Kalytvintsev was fired and helped the Wolves qualify for the European Cup for the first time in their history, has been appointed as the new coach of Kyiv.
Serhiy Shyshchenko is the new coach of the Brewers
In the first 5 matches, Obolon showed outright anti-football, although only a productive draw against Kolos can be distinguished. At the moment, Kyiv is the worst club in the UPL with a minus twelve-goal difference. It's not a given that the new coach will be able to put on a super game right away, as Obolon didn't add anyone during the break. Instead, Oleksandriya will have a great chance to take advantage of the Brewers' crisis and continue to fight for the awards. The match will take place at 18:00.
The bookmakers believe in Oleksandriya's victory, which is given odds of 1.6. Obolon's odds are 5.9.
Struggle to get out of the relegation zone
This Saturday, Odesa-based Chornomorets will visit Ingulets Petrovka. Both teams are not grabbing stars from the sky and are almost in the relegation zone - 13th and 14th place, respectively. Before this match, there was an interesting story involving Ingulets, and especially the club's president, Oleksandr Povorozniuk. The fact is that the club is building a new stadium, which should be ready by this summer. Ingulets played its first five matches away from home, and the match against Chornomorets was supposed to take place at the new Ingulets Arena stadium. However, the UAF certification committee did not approve the Ingulets Arena for the tournament.
Back in May, the Committee identified a number of shortcomings that the club must address to obtain permission to hold home matches. However, according to the UAF, the UAF Stadiums and Competition Safety Service has not received a document on the elimination of deficiencies.
Instead, Povorozniuk sent a letter to the UAF threatening to withdraw the club from the championship if it was not allowed to play at home. The UAF representatives were looking for a solution to this situation for a long time, but eventually a meeting of the team and management was held in Petrovo on September 9. It was decided to continue playing in the championship. Ingulets will play its home games either away or at a reserve stadium. The club from Petrovo has chosen Girnyk Stadium in Kryvyi Rih.
By the winter offseason, Povorozniuk has to resolve all issues related to the stadium's documentation. In this case, Ingulets will be able to start the spring part of the championship in the new arena. At the same time, the match of the sixth round of the UPL against Chornomorets is likely to take place in Odesa, but Ingulets will be the nominal host.
“Ingulets Arena
We will see whether Chornomorets will manage to defeat Petrovo on their home field at 13:00. Although not by a significant margin, bookmakers give Chornomorets a 2.1 win, while Ingulets is favored by 3.2.
Central match of the tour
The central match of Round 6 will take place in Zaporizhzhia, where Luhansk-based Zorya will host Dynamo Kyiv. “Zorya, which is ranked 6th, has long proven to be a difficult opponent for the giants such as Dynamo and Shakhtar.
During a short break, Zorya and Dynamo completed the transfer of Luhansk's top scorer Eduardo Guerrero, who played 48 matches for the men, scoring 19 goals and providing 9 assists.
Eduardo Guerrero - player of Dynamo Kyiv
Kyiv paid 2.5 million euros for the Panamanian, gave away the rights to Ihor Horbach, and Vladyslav Supryaha left in the opposite direction.
Vladislav Supryaha
Previously, Dynamo and Zorya did something similar when in 2022 Kyiv transferred Denys Antiukh, and Vladyslav Kabaev, who is currently at the peak of his form, moved to the White and Blues.
It should be noted that Guerrero will miss the match against his former team in the UPL. This is the agreement between the clubs on the player's transfer.
We'll see if Supryaha can prove to Oleksandr Shovkovskyi that he was sent to Zorya for nothing at 15:30.
Given that Zorya gave away their best player, bookmakers give Kyiv a confident victory at 1.4. Zorya are given odds of 7.7.
The battle of the “middlemen”
The final match on Saturday will be played, as strange as it may sound, by the current mid-table Shakhtar Donetsk, who will be visited by Lviv's Karpaty. The Donetsk team had a mixed start to the season, losing two games already. “Karpaty, as a newcomer to the UPL, show good football, but there is a lack of experience among the players.
Most of Shakhtar's players have been called up for national team games, which may affect the players' physical condition, but most of the Karpaty juniors have been called up to the youth team as well.
Another fact that Karpaty can take advantage of is that in a few days the Orange and Blacks will start playing in the Champions League, so we can assume that Marino Pušić will keep his key players.
But whether Shakhtar will be able to go on a winning streak or stumble over the Lions - we will see at 18:00.
Bookmakers give Shakhtar an overly confident victory at 1.2. Karpaty to win - 15.
The battle for leadership
On Sunday, Rukh from Vynnyky will visit Vorskla in Poltava. “Rukh went into the break on a great run, as the team defeated their opponents with a crushing score in almost every match, scoring 13 goals in 5 rounds, which allowed the team to rise to 3rd place.
Vorskla is also doing quite well. After a crushing defeat in the first round against Shakhtar, the team managed to pull themselves together and play some good matches against some tough opponents. Now Poltava deservedly occupy a place in the middle of the table, being a solid middle of the pack in the league.
We'll see how the pause affected the teams and whether Rukh will be able to continue their winning ways at 13:00.
Despite Rukh's excellent performances, bookmakers do not favor either team - Rukh has odds of 2.6 to win, while Vorskla has odds of 2.7.
Debutant vs. experienced opponent
Another match on Sunday will take place between Kyiv's Left Bank and Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih. In the last two rounds, the capital's team has gained momentum, winning its last two matches, although before that it had suffered three consecutive defeats. After this, the Kyiv players should feel a boost in morale and confidence in their abilities.
Kryvbas had a terrible start to the season. Yuriy Vernydub's men have been eliminated from the European competitions, but this may help them to focus on the domestic championship and the fight for the same European places.
However, we will see whether Kryvbas will be able to reach optimal conditions or whether Lions will win their third consecutive victory at 15:30.
Bookmakers favor Kryvbas - 1.8 against 4.5 for Left Bank.
The desire to continue the winning streak
The final match of Sunday will be played between Zhytomyr's Polissya, who also quite unexpectedly occupy the leading positions, and Rivne's Veres, who are one step away from the relegation zone.
“Polissia, which has had a strong start to the league and is currently in second place in the league, will be looking to extend its winning streak. “Veres seems to be struggling to find its game. By the way, Polissia's forward Oleksandr Nazarenko was recognized as the best player of August in the UPL.
Alexander Nazarenko
Given Polissia's form, bookmakers give the team a confident victory at 1.5. Veres is expected to win by 7.1.
Another match to get out of the relegation zone
The final match of the round will be played by teams from which probably no one expected such results in the UPL either - Kolos, which is in the penultimate place, will be visited by LNZ Cherkasy, which is in 5th place, but has 9 points, as well as Rukh and Dynamo.
“Kolos hasn't won this season, with only two draws, while LNZ is a pleasant surprise. Carrasco's team played several great matches, winning three times and losing twice - one of the defeats was to Dynamo Kyiv, in which LNZ players did not look like boys to beat.
Taking into account the results of both teams, bookmakers give LNZ the victory, although not with high odds - 2.3. The odds for Kolos' victory are 3.4.
All matches of the Ukrainian Football Championship are broadcast live on UPL.TV, which is available on the Kyivstar TV online TV platform.