Ukraine Premier League betting tips and odds

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Rukh Vynnyky - Shakhtar Donetsk

Kickoff starts at 17:30 on 23/09/2020 played @ Stadion im. Bohdan Markevycha

Kolos Kovalivka - Inhulets

Kickoff starts at 23:00 on 25/09/2020 played @ Stadion Uman'fermmash

Minai - Dynamo Kyiv

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Vorskla - Mariupol

Kickoff starts at 15:00 on 26/09/2020 played @ Stadion Vorskla im. Oleksiya Butov'skogo

Oleksandria - Dnipro-1

Kickoff starts at 17:30 on 26/09/2020 played @ KSK Nika

Ukraine Premier League Results

Ukrainian Premier League Intro

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.

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 Ukranian Premier League consists of the country's 12 best professional football clubs and has for most of its existence, barring a couple of seasons with 16 before 2014.

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.

Clubs are then ranked based on how many points they were awarded and split into two groups – the 6 teams with the most points are put into one group, and the rest into the second group. Each team then proceeds to play against every team twice, same as before. In this second double round-robin, a team can only compete against other members of its own group, regardless of total points.

In the coming 2019-20 season, a post-season playoff was introduced to determine qualifications for various European club competitions. The top two teams of the league qualify to various Champions League stages, the third team qualifies to the Europa League third qualifying round. and the 4th, 5th and 6th teams participate in this playoff for another Europa League spot.

The two bottom-placed clubs are relegated to the First League, which is the second-tier league in Ukraine's system.

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

Ukranian Premier League Title Challengers

To get a good sense of how to bet on the Ukranian Premier League, we must first understand the team rankings. Who are the favourites to outright win the championship, and why? As a starting point, we’ll use Ukranian Premier League betting odds, as offered by some of the world’s leading bookmakers.

The odds tell us the same thing this league’s history will: the championship is most likely to go to either Dynamo Kyiv or FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Excluding these two, FC Desna Chernihiv and Zorya Luhansk are given at least a shot, but it’s still far behind the two favourites.

Dynamo Kyiv

The second half of the 20th century is widely considered this teams’ golden age, but they still have a firm hold over domestic football. Many also believe them to be the overall best football club from an ex-Soviet country. Dynamo’s fans are also famously fiery, although this has sadly erupted in violence on several occasions in the past.

This is without a doubt a very decorated club, but their form has been slipping in the past few seasons. The last championship that went to Dynamo was in the 2015-16 season, and fans are worried that the team’s lineup and strategy have stagnated, allowing Shakhtar Donetsk to come to the forefront.

Their most recent outings displayed some weaknesses when it comes to playing in the midfield, but the team might just need time to solidify their strategy before the season starts in earnest. While Dynamo Kyiv might have seen better days, they’re still undoubtedly a contender for this year’s title.

Shakhtar Donetsk

The other club that has dominated the Ukranian Premier League since its inception, Shakhtar was founded in 1937. They originally come from the city of Donetsk, but have moved their base of operations to Lviv in 2014 because of the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Their full record includes 12 Premier League titles, 13 Ukranian Cups, 4 Soviet Cups, 1 Soviet First League title, and a UEFA Cup victory. They were the first club from the country to win the UEFA Cup since its independence. Officially, they’ve played under three different names: Stakhanovets (1936–46), Shakhtyor (Shakhtar) (1946–92), and FC Shakhtar (1992–present).

This team has had a lot of ups and downs throughout their history, but their position is a dominant force in the Ukranian Premier League starts around 2004 with their Romanian manager Mircea Lucescu. He managed the team up until 2016 and is praised as a major influence on the string of successes that lasts until this day.

They’re coming into this season as favourites, and that fact is in line with their current form. They usually employ a compact yet strong midfield, often with a 4-5-1 formation. This sort of setup allows them to slowly build up pressure that culminates in a relatively reigned-in sort of a triumph, but a triumph nonetheless.

FC Zorya Luhansk

Formerly known as Zaria Voroshilovgrad and Zorya-MALS, this team may not be as favoured to win the league outright, but they are still an outstanding member of the UPL. They are based in the city of Luhansk (formerly known as Voroshilovgrad), but have also been displaced by the fighting in that region.

Zorya, as the club we see today, was founded in 1964 as a result of a merger. In 1972 they became the first team to win the Soviet Top League that wasn’t based in Moscow.

More recently, Zorya had a few setbacks. They were even relegated all the way to the Second League for a time, but have managed to promote their way back into the UPL in 2006 and have remained there ever since.

As far as their form is concerned, they might not have a title yet – but they came close on several occasions in recent history. In the pitch, they’re a fairly aggressive team that focuses on scoring a lot of goals early and gaining an early advantage.

Ukranian Premier League Relegation Candidates

Now we’ll go over a few teams who seem the most likely to be relegated into the second-tier First League. This information is just as important for getting a good sense of the league, and thus important for Ukranian First League betting.

FC Karpaty Lviv

Coming from the city of Lviv, this club was voted as one of the most popular teams among Ukranian fans. In 1969, they became the first and only club in USSR history who won the USSR Cup while playing for the Soviet First League.

However, their head-to-head stats with most of the other UPL teams do not paint them favourably. They can only boast a measly 22% win rate last season, barely managing to hold onto their spot in the Premier League.

FC Vorskla Poltava

This club has its roots as Kolos Poltava, a club that was founded in Poltava in 1955 but was dissolved in 1982 due to bankruptcy. They were re-formed as Vorskla, and after the breakup of the USSR, they were placed in the second-tier league in Ukraine. They climbed their way into the UPL in 1996, and have mostly remained there since then.

However, their presence in this league has never produced any major successes, and Vorskla was mostly content to sit in in the middle of the standings. They peaked 2 years ago with a third place. This rather mediocre history, combined with some unfortunate injuries, do not bode well for Vorskla in the 2019-20 season.

Ukranian Premier League Top Players

This section is devoted to the Ukranian Premier League’s best individual players.

Viktor Tsyhankov

At only 22 years of age, Tsyhankov is one of the most promising midfielders in Europe. He has spent his entire career as part of Dynamo Kyiv’s first eleven and is also a noted member of Ukraine’s national team. His contract with Dynamo will last until 2023, but world-class clubs are already lining up for a shot at adding Tsykanov to their roster, many hailing him as a prodigy.

With 25 goals over 70 appearances last season, it’s hard to argue with his effectiveness on the offence. Still, even these statistics do not convey how impressive he is on the ball. Naturally two-footed, Tsyhankov is known for confidently powering through the opposing defence.

Ismaily

Ismaily Gonçalves dos Santos, this prominent left-back has been a member of Shakhtar Donetsk’s squad since 2012. The young Brazillian has since established himself as an absolute powerhouse among defenders in not only Ukraine, but the whole of Europe. However, parts of his career were played as a forward, displaying his versatility.

Ismaily is a constant performer for Shakhtar and has remained part of this team despite numerous offers from clubs like Tottenham.

Ukrainian Premier League Rising Stars

Now, let’s take a brief look at some of the most promising young players in Ukraine’s top-flight league.

Tetê

Shakthar’s team has begun increasingly relying on young Brazillian talent in recent years, and so far it’s shaping up to be great decision-making on their part. Signing this right winger was a controversial choice last year, but has turned out to be a savvy one. At only 19 years of age, Tetê has had a great impact on the team’s performance the previous season, and things are only looking to go up from here.

Vitalii Mykolenko

Playing in the right-back position of Dynamo Kyiv’s starting eleven, Mykolenko already has experience in the UEFA Youth League, where he was praised as one of the most distinguished young defenders. He’s showing patience and a tactically-oriented approach to the game that is usually seen only from more seasoned players.

Manor Solomon

The established dominance of ShaktharDonetsk has allowed many young players a chance to show their skills off in League matches, and Solomon is one of these. The Israeli left winger is already seeing considerable time in the pitch, as his ability to quickly transition into lightning-fast offences has not gone unnoticed.

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.