Kharkiv vs Veres: UPL 2026/27 Opening-Round Preview

Kharkiv welcomes Veres to Arena Livyi Bereh in Kyiv for the opening round of the 2026/27 Ukrainian Premier League. Kickoff is set for 15:30 on Saturday, August 1, with Mykhailo Raida of Zakarpattia region as the referee. The match will be broadcast on UPL.tv. Ukrainian domestic football has been quiet for two months - unless you count the World Cup, where Spain walked away with the title. Now the league returns with its usual mix of intrigue, scandals and investigations. Opening day has its own feel, and every team wants to get off on the right foot. The summer brought a significant change in Kharkiv. The club formerly known as Metalist 1925 has rebranded as Kharkiv, signed up new partners and looks ready for a fresh start. On paper, at least. Mladen Bartulovych's side played eight friendlies and managed only one win, a 6:2 result against Qarabag in the early days of their camp. Qarabag will face Dynamo Kyiv in Conference League qualifying next week. The other tests were tougher: Young Boys (0:2), Salzburg (0:4), Wolfsberg (3:3), Jablonec (0:1), Hradec Kralove (3:3), Okayama (1:2) and Schalke (0:2). Those losses still carried some value. The quality of the opposition was a step above what Kharkiv usually face in the UPL. Last season Kharkiv had two genuine chances to push for Europe and let both slip: they lost to First League Chernihiv in the cup semifinal, then dropped points in the closing league rounds. There was plenty of squad turnover as well. Out went Samuel Obinaya (Jablonec), Ivan Lytvynenko (Zalgiris), Vasyl Kravets, Maksym Kovalenko (Probiy), Yevhen Pasich (Kudrivka), Ari Moura, Dmytro Kapinus (Obolon), Ihor Snurnitsyn, Oleh Mozil, Viacheslav Churko, Oleksandr Svitiukha and Vladyslav Kalitvintsev. In came goalkeeper Heorhii Yermakov (Maccabi Haifa), Oleksandr Yatsyk (Dynamo Kyiv), Rafael Profini (Union Santa Fe), Carlos Paraco (Kryvbas) and, the biggest surprise of all, Artem Smoliakov on loan from Los Angeles. Veres stayed home all summer. No foreign training camps, just local work, air-raid sirens and extra nerves. They also played eight friendlies and came away with a single win, 3:0 against YUKSA. The rest was a mixed bag: 1:1 with Fenix-Mariupol, a 2:3 loss to UPL newcomer Bukovyna, 2:3 against Kolos, two defeats to Karpaty (1:5 and 0:1), and 1:1 draws with Nyva and Polissia's reserves. The buildup was balanced enough, even if the results were not always pretty. Preseason numbers do not mean much once the league starts, though. Veres is likely facing another season of mid-table traffic, with a relegation battle never far away. Last season they finished 11th, three points above the relegation playoff spot. For a club with their budget and ambitions, the board viewed that as a solid result. The teams have met 11 times, and Veres holds the better head-to-head record with seven wins. The goal difference is 19:14 in their favor. Last season Kharkiv won both league meetings - 4:0 at home and 1:0 away. Bookmakers have Kharkiv as favorites. A home win is priced at 1.66, a draw at 3.80 and Veres at 5.33. A few numbers for the occasion. Kharkiv can make it either a 20th home win or a 20th home loss in the UPL. They are three goals away from conceding 150 in the league. Veres is one away defeat from 70 on the road in the UPL. Kharkiv's home draw streak sits at two games. Veres is winless in six league matches - two draws and four losses - and has lost its last three. It will also be Oleh Shandruk's 80th top-flight match in charge of Veres and Mladen Bartulovych's 60th in charge of Kharkiv.