Ukraine Premier League predictions and odds

An informed punter has a width of knowledge at disposal and is always looking for better markets to get the most value. Doing this takes years of experience, but Betting Fellow is here to make your career in online betting easier.

To that end, we’ll be exploring some football leagues you might not be familiar with enough to bet on. One such league is the Ukranian Premier League. Professional football in this Eastern European country has been on the rise for years now, so betting on the Ukranian Premier League can be quite exciting and lucrative if you know what you’re doing.

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Ukraine Premier League Predictions

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Ukrainian Premier League History an General Info

Commonly referred to as the UPL, this is the highest-level competition league in Ukranian professional football. It was formed in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and included the best Ukranian association football clubs from the top three tiers of the Soviet football championship.

The UPL is ranked as the 10th-best national league in Europe by UEFA’s league coefficient system. This ranking is based on performances by the league’s individual teams during the last five years.

Up until 1991, all the best teams from Ukraine played as part of the Soviet Top League, the USSR’s national championship. Ukraine’s inaugural independent championship took place at the start of spring in 1992, although back then it was dubbed the Ukrainian Higher League.

Now, some of the country’s best teams also had titles in the Soviet era. However, since Russia is considered the Soviet Union’s political successor state, the Russian Premier League is considered a successor to the STL as well. Bear that in mind when we go over some of the teams’ records and titles.

In 1996 all professional-level football leagues were unified as members of the Professional Football League of Ukraine. However, as of 2008, the country’s top-flight league was withdrawn from the lower tiers, forming its own entity known as the Football Federation of Ukraine. It is thus established as it’s own independent football organization with its own set of laws and regulations. What followed was a period of the political divide between the clubs’ representatives and league management about various financial aspects. Still, the seasons proceeded as usual.

The Ukrainian Premier League is currently undergoing a lengthy expansion process. For starters, the 2020/21 season will consist of 14 teams, compared to the previous 12. This includes the 11 best-placed teams from the previous season plus 3 top-ranked teams from the Ukrainian First League. This process is expected to continue for the next few seasons. For instance, the 2021/22 season is planned to consist of 16 teams.

The league’s format consists of a round-robin system in two cycles. Basically, each of the teams plays every other team twice – once home and once away. This generally takes place between fall and spring each year. As with most such formats, each victory earns a team 3 points, while 1 point is awarded for draw games.

Prior to the 2020/21 season, the teams would be split into Qualification and Relegation playoffs. However, this is no longer the case. The Ukrainian Premier League’s format is now a simple double round-robin with no playoffs. This change makes the league conform to a more standard template that most European top-flight leagues use.

The two bottom-placed clubs are relegated to the First League, which is the second-tier league in Ukraine's system. However, only 1 team will be relegated for the next few seasons as the league expands. Additionally, 3 teams will be promoted every year to keep the number growing.

For most of the UPL’s history, it has heavily been dominated by two clubs: Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk. Tavriya Simferopol won the first championship back in 1992, and every single title since then has gone to one of these two clubs. Dynamo is considered the UPL’s “flagship team”, but 8 out of the past 10 seasons have been won by Shaktar.

The league’s all-time top goalscorer is SerhiyRebrov, who scored a total of 123 goals over 261 appearances, mostly playing for Dynamo Kyiv. The record for most appearances is held by Oleksandr Shovkovskiy with 426 total games played, again for Dynamo

Ukrainian Premier League Derby Matches

Klasychne Derby

Ukraine’s own answer to the Classico, this is the showdown between two of the country’s biggest and best teams: Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk. We’ve already spent quite a lot of dime illustrating the iron grip these two clubs have over the Ukranian Premier League, so the importance this derby has in Ukraine cannot be understated. It has its roots back in the Soviet era, and is only looking to be even bigger.

Donbas Rivalry

Another noted rivalry between Shakhtar Donetsk and Zorya Luhansk, the biggest teams out of the eastern region of the Donets Basin. Although the region is currently mired in conflict, it is also noted for producing generally better teams than Ukraine’s east.

Ukranian Premier League Best Stadiums

Olympic Stadium

A massive multi-purpose arena in the country’s capital of Kyiv, the Olympic National Sports Complex is Ukraine’s premier sports venue. With a capacity of 70,000 and a record attendance of over 100,000 in 1977, this stadium is the second biggest of its kind in Eastern Europe. It was designed to host the 1980 Olympics.

These days, it rarely serves for regular matches of Dynamo, whose home turf is here. Instead, it’s only for the largest of derbies and games by the Ukranian National Team. Metalist Oblast Sports Complex

This is the home ground of FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, although it currently also serves the same purpose for Shakhtar Donetsk. It has a capacity of 40,000 and can hold other sporting events, although it’s mostly used for football.

This stadium’s history dates all the way back to 1925, although it has been fully reconstructed several times since then.

Arena Lviv

The largest football stadium in Lviv, this arena was used as a venue for several UEFA competitions. It has a capacity of just under 35,000 and is the home ground of NK Veres Rivne and FC Karpaty Lviv.