Ukrainian Premier League: announcement of the fourth round, where to watch matches and who are the bookmakers' favorites
Kyiv • UNN
The fourth round of the UPL kicks off on Ukraine's Independence Day. “Oleksandriya will host Shakhtar, Kryvbas will play Ingulets, and Left Bank will try to get their first points against Chornomorets.
Starting today, on Ukraine's Independence Day, and continuing through Monday, Ukrainian fans will be able to enjoy the fourth round of the Ukrainian Premier League. We will find out this weekend whether L'viv Berehir can finally get out of the crisis, whether Oleksandriya will manage to stay at the top of the standings, and whether Kryvbas will improve their mood before the return leg in the Conference League. UNN decided to tell you with what mood the teams approach the matches, who is the bookmakers' favorite and where to watch UPL matches.
Oleksandriya vs Shakhtar
Oleksandriya and Shakhtar Donetsk will open the fourth round of the UPL at the Nika Stadium. “Oleksandriya is coming into this match without a loss, despite having played one less game than Shakhtar. The 2-1 victory over Zorya in the last round allowed Ruslan Rotan's team to lead the standings. Interestingly, in the match against Zorya, the club from Kirovohrad region conceded its 450th goal in the league, including the 250th away goal.
The author of the goal against Zorya Kyrylo Kovalets celebrated a solid anniversary - the 31-year-old captain of the Oleksandriya club has already played 200 matches in the UPL.
Kyrylo Kovalets (left)
Instead, Shakhtar narrowly defeated the capital's Left Bank 1-0, winning their 10th away victory in all competitions under Marino Pushic, and the goal scorer Danylo Sikan played his 100th match for the Pitmen in various tournaments.
Danylo Sikan
The teams have met in the UPL 30 times, with Shakhtar having total dominance - 21 wins for the miners against 3 for Oleksandriya. Three more matches were drawn.
Last season, in the first round of the UPL, the teams drew 1-1. But in the second round, there was a scandal involving the teams. The fact is that in that match, which ended in a zero-zero draw, Ivan Kalyuzhnyi, who had not been pre-registered for the game, played for Oleksandriya.
Later, the UAF Control and Disciplinary Committee canceled the result of the match, counting Oleksandriya a technical defeat - 0: 3.
We will see whether Oleksandriya will manage to stay at the top of the standings or have to leave the top spot at 13:00. The match, as well as the rest of the matches, will be shown by UPL TV.
Bookmakers give Shakhtar a strong advantage, with odds of 1.5 on their victory. Oleksandriya is favored at 7.1, and the draw at 4.5.
Polissia vs. Obolon
Sunday's matches will be opened by Zhytomyr's Polissya and Kyiv's Obolon at the Central Stadium in Zhytomyr. In the last round, Polissia drew with Ingulets 1-1, and Obolon lost to Vorskla 2-0, extending its winless away streak to 11 games: 5 draws and 6 defeats on the road.
The teams have met 9 times in their history, including 2 times in the UPL, where they have one victory each. It happened last season, when Polissia beat Brewers 2-0 in the first round, and Obolon took revenge 1-0 in the second round.
Interestingly, when the teams played in the First League, Polissia did not win a single match against Obolon - 4 defeats, 1 draw.
“Obolon approaches the match in high spirits after winning the Ukrainian Cup in a penalty shootout against Kolos Kovaliv, but we will see whether the Brewers will be able to break their winless streak on the road at 13:00.
Bookmakers are confidently betting on Polissia with odds of 1.6. Obolon's odds are 6.6, and 3.8 for a draw.
“Polissia vs Obolon last season
“Rukh” - “Zorya”
The second match on Sunday will be played between the teams that lost in the last round, Rukh Vynnyky and Zorya Luhansk. “Rukh lost 3-1 to LNZ, leading during the match, suffering its 10th defeat in the UPL under Vitaliy Ponomaryov, while Zorya, as noted, lost to Oleksandriya.
Despite the defeat by LNZ, Rukh striker Ilya Kvasnytsia set a personal best by scoring his 10th goal in the UPL.
Ilya Kvasnitsa
The teams have played 7 head-to-head meetings in the Premier League, with Zorya having a slight advantage - 3 wins against Rukh's 2. Another match was a draw, played in the second round of the UPL last season. In the first round, Rukh won a minimal victory over Zorya - 2:1.
Zorya also played their match in the 1/16 finals of the Ukrainian Cup this week, in which they defeated amateur side Olimpiya 4-1.
Whether Rukh will manage to get back at Zorya in a face-to-face match, and whether Kvasnytsia will be able to extend his UPL goals tally - watch at 15:30.
The bookmakers do not favor either team: Zorya's odds are 2.8, Rukh's odds are 2.5. A draw in the match - 3.4.
Kryvbas vs
The third and final match on Sunday in Kryvyi Rih will be played by local side Kryvbas, who will be visited by Ingulets from Petrovka. In the last round, Kryvbas beat Veres 2-0, realizing the 90th penalty in the UPL, while Ingulets, as already mentioned, drew with Polissia, playing the 40th away match in the UPL.
Last week, Ingulets sensationally lost to second-league FC Probiy Horodenka in the Ukrainian Cup - 2-2 in regular time and 4-2 on penalties. Another reason why Vasyl Kobin's team made headlines was that Ingulets president Oleksandr Povorozniuk lost control of his car and got into an accident while driving to the Ukrainian Cup.
Instead, Kryvbas lost 2-0 to Betis in the Conference League qualifiers last week, continuing the series of failures of Ukrainian debutantes in this tournament. The winless tradition of Ukrainian clubs' debut appearances in this tournament has been going on since 2021.
The teams met in the UPL only twice in the 2022/2023 season, where once Kryvyi Rih won 3-1, and the second match ended with “dry zeros” on the scoreboard.
Will Kryvbas manage to improve their mood before the match with a response against Betis, or will Cobin's men manage to take advantage of Kryvyi Rih's situation - we will find out at 18:00.
The bookmakers give Kryvbas a strong advantage, with odds of 1.4. Ingulets is favored by 7.2, and the draw is 4.7.
“Kryvbas vs. Ingulets last season
“LNZ” - “Karpaty”
On Monday, Cherkasy's LNZ, which won their last match against Rukh 3-1, will be visited by Lviv's Karpaty, who lost to Kyiv's Dynamo by the same score in the last round.
In their history, the teams have never met in the top division, but they played three games in the First and Second Leagues of Ukraine, where LNZ was twice stronger and once the teams drew.
Last week, Karpaty confidently defeated Chornomorets in the Ukrainian Cup 3-0, which may give the Lions confidence, but LNZ had more time to recover, which may play a role. We will see whether LNZ will be able to take advantage of Karpaty's fatigue at 13:00.
The bookmakers also do not have a clear winner in this match, with LNZ at 2.5 and Karpaty at 2.9. The odds for a draw are 3.4.
“LNZ vs Karpaty in a friendly match
Left Bank - Chornomorets
In the other match on Monday, the loser of the championship, Left Bank, will visit Chornomorets Odesa. The Kyiv team has not yet scored a point in the league, losing three matches in the first UPL matches, and they were eliminated in the Ukrainian Cup by second-league Kudrivka 3-2. Instead, Chornomorets narrowly defeated Kolos 1-0 in the last round, ending two series: a losing one that lasted 4 games in the championships and a goalless one for 427 minutes, but, as already noted, lost to Karpaty in the Cup.
The teams have met only once in their history in the Ukrainian Cup in 2023, where the Sailors proved to be stronger - 2: 1.
We will find out at 15:30 whether the Left Bank will be able to get out of this “pit”, given the fatigue of the “sailors”, or whether it will continue to “fall to the bottom”.
Despite the fact that Kyiv lost all their matches in the UPL, bookmakers give almost equal odds for both teams to win: 2.5 for Luhansk to win, 2.9 for Chornomorets. The odds of a draw are 3.4.
“Left Bank vs. Chornomorets in the Ukrainian Cup
Kolos vs
The final match of the round will be played in Kovalivka, Kyiv region, by local Kolos, which will be visited by Veres Rivne. As already mentioned, both teams lost their matches in the last round. By the way, Kolos suffered its 60th defeat in the UPL last round, but in that match Denys Bezborodko made a unique achievement - he played 150 matches in the UPL.
Denys Bezborodko
As noted above, Kolos also played a match in the Ukrainian Cup this week, losing to Obolon Kyiv. Meanwhile, Veres left no stone unturned in the Cup against Metalist-1925 - 4:0.
In total, the teams have played 14 matches between them, including 6 in the UPL. “Veres has never defeated Kolos in the top flight - 5 defeats and one draw. Last season, Kolos beat Veres twice with a score of 2-0. Interestingly, Veres has never scored against Kolos in the UPL.
We will find out at 18:00 whether Veres will finally be able to hit the Kolos goal and get the first victory over the team from Kovalivka.
Bookmakers believe that Kolos has an advantage in this match, giving them odds of 2 to win. The odds for Veres' victory are 3.9, and for a draw - 3.5.
