Veres seek first points as Dynamo Kyiv head to Rivne

Veres will try to end a miserable run when Dynamo Kyiv visit Rivne on Sunday in the second round of the 2026-27 Ukrainian Premier League. The match at Avangard Stadium kicks off at 6 PM, with Oleksii Derevinskyi of Khmelnytskyi as the referee. UPL.TV will broadcast it live. The home team started the season the way they finished the previous one - with a narrow loss. Veres went down 1-0 to Kharkiv in the opening round, the same club that beat them 1-0 on the final day of last season under its old name, Metalist 1925. Little has changed over the summer: two signings arrived, several experienced players left. Against Kharkiv, Veres struggled to create anything in the final third. Coach Oleh Shandruk had to improvise, moving Ihor Kharatin into central defense and using Danylo Checher in front of the back line. The experiment made sense, as the coach said afterward, but the damage came late when a loose ball around the edge of the penalty area turned into the only goal. Dynamo have yet to play in the league. Their scheduled opener against Livyi Bereh was postponed due to European duty, but they are far from short of minutes. Five official games are already behind them: two 0-0 draws against Romania's Universitatea, which they followed with a penalty shootout win, and then two Europa League qualifying losses to PAOK (2-3, 0-2). The continental route then switched to the Conference League, where Dynamo edged Qarabag 1-0 in the first leg thanks to an early Matviy Ponomarenko goal. Dynamo boss Ihor Kostyuk has been searching for the right midfield balance and used Volodymyr Brazhko, Valentyn Rubchynskyi and Justin Lonwijk against Qarabag. Rubchynskyi and Lonwijk came in for Mykola Shaparenko and Oleksandr Pikhalyonok compared with the earlier European lineups. Further changes are possible in Rivne. One signing has already settled in: right back Oleksii Sych, recruited from Karpaty. History is firmly against Veres. In 24 meetings, Dynamo have 19 wins, four draws and only one Veres victory - 3-1 back in 2018 during a UPL match. The head-to-head goal difference is 58-12. Last season, Dynamo won both league encounters, 3-0 and 3-2. Unsurprisingly, the bookies make Dynamo heavy favorites. A home win is priced at 9.50, a draw at 4.75, and an away win at 1.36. Several milestones are within reach. Dynamo can claim their 740th UPL victory and their 340th on the road. Veres are winless in seven consecutive league games (two draws, five losses) and have lost four in a row. Dynamo, meanwhile, have won three straight. Veres could also play their 100th scoreless match in the UPL. Nazar Voloshyn and Volodymyr Brazhko each could reach 20 UPL goals, while Vladyslav Sharai is closing in on 15. Probable lineups: Veres: Horokh - Smiian, Vovchenko, Kharatin, Stampoulis - Gonçalves, Baran, Checher, Sharai - Yan, Blair. Dynamo Kyiv: Neshcheret - Dubinchak, Mykhavko, Kendziora, Tymchyk - Pikhalyonok, Rubchynskyi, Buyalskyi - Redushko, Yarmolenko, Ponomarenko. Prediction: 0-2.