Epicenter vs Obolon: UPL opener puts Kamianets-Podilskyi in the spotlight

The city of Kamianets-Podilskyi has waited for this moment. On Sunday, Aug. 2, Epicenter finally gets to play a Ukrainian Premier League home match in front of its own fans, hosting Obolon Kyiv at H. Tonkocheyev Stadium in the opening round of the 2026/27 season. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. local time, with Oleh Kohut from Ternopil as the referee and live coverage on UPL.TV. For the home side, this is more than just another fixture. The stadium in the Khmelnytskyi region had to go through a long approval process to meet UPL standards, so now the club can genuinely call Kamianets-Podilskyi its home. The city, understandably, is treating it as a football celebration. Obolon arrives with complications of its own. The Kyiv club is rebuilding its home field almost from scratch, which means Oleksandr Antonenko's squad will start the season with a heavy run of away games. That makes the trip to Kamianets-Podilskyi a serious early test. Neither team did anything dramatic in the transfer market. Epicenter continues to look toward Spain, adding winger Nene and midfielder Raul Tavares. Obolon made the most notable sale of the summer, selling Denys Marchenko to Karpaty for €1 million. Kyrylo Barantsov from YUKSA is the player who could eventually fill that void, while Dmytro Myshnov, Yevhenii Morozko, Vitalii Yermakov and Kyrylo Prokopchuk bring experience to the squad. Epicenter used last season to adapt to the top flight and finished it with some decent form. Now the goal is to build on that. Obolon wants to stay well clear of the relegation zone, and those veteran additions should help. Likely lineups: Epicenter: Bilyk; Luchkevych, Kosh, Moroz, Klymets; Myroniuk, Seberio; Rojas, Kovalets, Sifuentes; Yevpak. Obolon: Fedorivskyi; Polehenko, Lomnytskyi, Yermakov, Shevchenko; Moroz, Myshnov; Sukhanov, Volokhatyi, Matkevych; Ustymenko. Some numbers to know: this will be Obolon's 90th UPL game. The club could get its 20th league win or its 30th draw - and if that draw comes on the road, it would be their 10th away draw. Epicenter is unbeaten in seven straight UPL matches, with one win and six draws. Obolon has gone 10 league games without a draw, winning three and losing seven. Antonenko will also reach a milestone, taking charge of his 30th UPL match. Prediction: 1-0.