2023–24 Ukrainian Premier League

VBet Liha (UPL)
2023–24
	VBet Liha (UPL); 2023–24
Season information
Dates	29 July 2023–25 May 2024
Winners	Shakhtar Donetsk
Relegated	FC Mynai; Metalist 1925 Kharkiv
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Shakhtar Donetsk; Dynamo Kyiv
Europa League	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
Europa Conference League	Dnipro-1; Polissya Zhytomyr
Season statistics
Matches played	240
Goals scored	594
Top goalscorer	Vladyslav Vanat (Dynamo); (14 goals)
Biggest home win	Dynamo 5–0 Kolos; (5 May 2024)
Biggest away win	Oleksandriya 1–5 Chornomorets; (22 September 2023); Vorskla 1–5 Dynamo; (31 March 2024)
Highest scoring	7 goals (4 matches)
← 2022–23	2024–25 →

The 2023–24 Ukrainian Premier League season, referred to as the VBet Liha for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd top-level football club competition since the fall of the Soviet Union and the 16th since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League. On June 7, 2023 the UPL published highlights of the next season regulation draft announcing that preliminary the next season is expected to start on July 29. Also, this season is expected to have the national cup competitions restored which expected to start on August 16. The season regulation draft is yet to be approved by the General Assembly of the UPL participants.

Teams[]

This season the Ukrainian Premier League is expected to keep 16 teams. Two teams had their status suspended due to the Russian occupation and/or destruction of their sports infrastructure. As a reminder in case if one or both Desna and Mariupol decide to return to the league competitions next season, it is predetermined that the league team pool would be increased to 18 teams. On June 9, 2023 President of FC Desna stated that the club will return to professional football the next season in 2024 and will start from the Second League due to issues with player transfers.

Promoted teams[]

Polissia Zhytomyr – first-placed team of the 2022–23 Ukrainian First League (debut)
Obolon Kyiv – second-placed team of the 2022–23 Ukrainian First League (returning, last competed in 2011–12, for the first time since its reorganization in 2013)
LNZ Cherkasy – winner of promotion/relegation play-off (debut)

Relegated teams[]

Inhulets Petrove – Relegated after three seasons in the top flight.
Metalist Kharkiv – Relegated after one season in the top flight
FC Lviv – Relegated after five seasons in the top flight.

Stadiums[]

The minimum threshold for the stadium's capacity in the UPL is 4,500 (Article 10, paragraph 8.3). With the ongoing Russian aggression clubs were forced to relocate to western parts of the country with the Ukrainian Association of Football listed its certified stadiums for the season competitions. It was decided that the main regions in which permitted to conduct competitions are Kyiv city, Kyiv Oblast, Lviv Oblast and Zakarpattia Oblast. A match could take place in other regions on permission of a regional military administration and agreement from the opposing club.

The following stadiums are regarded as home grounds:

Rank	Stadium	Place	Club	Capacity	Notes
1	NSC Olimpiyskiy	Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	70,050	used as home ground during the season
2	Arena Lviv	Lviv	Rukh Lviv	34,915
3	Ukraina Stadium	Lviv	Rukh Lviv	27,925
4	Butovsky Vorskla Stadium	Poltava	Vorskla Poltava	24,795
5	Dynamo Stadium	Kyiv	Dynamo Kyiv	16,873
6	Avanhard Stadium	Uzhhorod	Dnipro-1	12,000	used as home ground during the season
7	Tsentralnyi Stadion	Cherkasy	LNZ Cherkasy	10,321
8	CSC Nika Stadium	Oleksandriya	Oleksandriya	7,000
9	Tsentralnyi Stadion	Zhytomyr	Polissya Zhytomyr	5,928
10	Obolon Arena	Kyiv	Obolon Kyiv	5,100
11	Kolos Stadium	Kovalivka	Kolos Kovalivka	5,050
12	Livyi Bereh Stadium	Zolochivska hromada	Metalist 1925 Kharkiv	4,700
12	Livyi Bereh Stadium	Zolochivska hromada	Zorya Luhansk	4,700	used as home ground during the season
13	Avanhard Stadium	Rivne	Veres Rivne	4,650
14	Hirnyk Stadium	Kryvyi Rih	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	2,500
15	Mynai Arena	Mynai	FC Mynai	1,312
10	Bannikov Stadium	Kyiv	Chornomorets Odesa	1,678	used as home ground in Round 1

Personnel and sponsorship[]

Team	President	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Chornomorets Odesa	Leonid Klimov	Roman Hryhorchuk	Illya Putrya	Kelme	—
Dnipro-1	Maksym Bereza	Yuriy Maksymov	Oleksandr Svatok	Nike	Windrose
Dynamo Kyiv	Ihor Surkis	Mircea Lucescu	Vitaliy Buyalskyi	New Balance	A-Bank
Kolos Kovalivka	Andriy Zasukha	Yaroslav Vyshnyak	Vadym Milko	Nike	ATTP
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	Kostyantyn Karamanits	Yuriy Vernydub	Dmytro Khomchenovskyi	Joma	Rudomain
LNZ Cherkasy	Andriy Poltavets	Aleh Dulub	Oleh Tarasenko	Macron	Vbet
Metalist 1925 Kharkiv	Yaroslav Vdovenko	Edmar (caretaker)	Artem Habelok	Puma	AES group
Mynai	Valeriy Peresolyak	Volodymyr Sharan	Oleksandr Bandura	Kelme	FavBet
Obolon Kyiv	Oleksandr Slobodian	Valeriy Ivashchenko	Nazariy Fedorivskyi	Jako	FavBet
Oleksandriya	Serhiy Kuzmenko	Ruslan Rotan	Vladyslav Kalitvintsev	Nike	AhroVista
Polissya Zhytomyr	Volodymyr Zahurskyi	Yuriy Kalitvintsev	Vladyslav Ohirya	Nike	BGV Group
Rukh Lviv	Hryhoriy Kozlovskyi	Vitaliy Ponomaryov	Marko Sapuha	Macron	Emily Resort
Shakhtar Donetsk	Rinat Akhmetov	Patrick van Leeuwen	Taras Stepanenko	Puma	FavBet
Veres Rivne	Ivan Nadieyin	Serhiy Lavrynenko	Bohdan Kohut	Kelme	Vbet
Vorskla Poltava	Kostyantyn Zhevago	Viktor Skrypnyk	Volodymyr Chesnakov	Nike	Ferrexpo
Zorya Luhansk	Yevhen Heller	Valeriy Kryventsov	Dmytro Myshnyov	Puma	—

Managerial changes[]

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Shakhtar Donetsk	Igor Jovićević	Fired	8 June 2023	Pre-season	Patrick van Leeuwen	3 July 2023
Veres Rivne	Yuriy Virt	Resigned	14 June 2023		Serhiy Lavrynenko	16 June 2023
Zorya Luhansk	Patrick van Leeuwen	Signed with Shakhtar	3 July 2023		Nenad Lalatović	4 July 2023
SC Dnipro-1	Oleksandr Kucher	Resigned	20 August 2023	11th	Valeriy Horodov (interim)	21 August 2023
LNZ Cherkasy	Oleksandr Kovpak	Terminated contract	23 August 2023	13th	Yuriy Dudnyk (caretaker)	25 August 2023
LNZ Cherkasy	Yuriy Dudnyk (caretaker)	End of interim	30 August 2023	15th	Aleh Dulub	30 August 2023
Zorya Luhansk	Nenad Lalatović	Resigned	27 August 2023	11th	Mladen Bartulović (caretaker)	27 August 2023
Zorya Luhansk	Mladen Bartulović (caretaker)	End of interim	9 September 2023	12th	Valeriy Kryventsov	9 September 2023
SC Dnipro-1	Valeriy Horodov (interim)	End of interim	14 September 2023	11th	Yuriy Maksymov	14 September 2023
Shakhtar Donetsk	Patrick van Leeuwen	Fired	16 October 2023	2nd	Darijo Srna (interim)	16 October 2023
Shakhtar Donetsk	Darijo Srna (interim)	Returned to previous position	24 October 2023	3rd	Marino Pušić	24 October 2023
Dynamo Kyiv	Mircea Lucescu	Resigned	3 November 2023	7th	Oleksandr Shovkovskyi (caretaker)	4 November 2023
Metalist 1925 Kharkiv	Edmar (caretaker)		5 November 2023	9th	Oleh Holodyuk (caretaker)	5 November 2023
Zorya Luhansk	Valeriy Kryventsov		11 November 2023	13th	Yuriy Koval (caretaker)	11 November 2023
FC Mynai	Volodymyr Sharan	Mutual agreement	17 November 2023	16th	Željko Ljubenović	18 November 2023
Dynamo Kyiv	Oleksandr Shovkovskyi (caretaker)	Made a head coach	12 December 2023	5th	Oleksandr Shovkovskyi	12 December 2023
Veres Rivne	Serhiy Lavrynenko	Sacked	12 December 2023	15th	Oleh Shandruk	12 December 2023
Metalist 1925 Kharkiv	Oleh Holodyuk (caretaker)	Change of role	20 December 2023	12th	Viktor Skrypnyk	20 December 2023
Vorskla Poltava	Viktor Skrypnyk	Mutual agreement	20 December 2023	7th	Serhiy Dolhanskyi (caretaker)	4 January 2024
Polissya Zhytomyr	Yuriy Kalitvintsev	Resigned	11 March 2024	6th	Serhiy Shyshchenko (caretaker)	12 March 2024
Kolos Kovalivka	Yaroslav Vyshnyak	Change of role	28 April 2024	12th	Oleksandr Pozdeyev (caretaker)	28 April 2024
Kolos Kovalivka	Oleksandr Pozdeyev (caretaker)	End of interim	12 May 2024	12th	Oleksandr Pozdeyev	12 May 2024
Polissya Zhytomyr	Serhiy Shyshchenko (caretaker)	End of interim	26 May 2024	5th	Imad Ashur	26 May 2024

League table[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Shakhtar Donetsk (C)	30	22	5	3	63	24	+39	71	Qualification for the Champions League league stage
2	Dynamo Kyiv	30	22	3	5	72	28	+44	69	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	30	17	6	7	51	30	+21	57	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
4	Dnipro-1	30	14	10	6	40	27	+13	52	Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round
5	Polissya Zhytomyr	30	14	8	8	39	30	+9	50
6	Rukh Lviv	30	12	13	5	44	31	+13	49
7	LNZ Cherkasy	30	11	8	11	31	34	−3	41
8	Oleksandriya	30	8	10	12	30	38	−8	34
9	Vorskla Poltava	30	9	6	15	30	46	−16	33
10	Zorya Luhansk	30	7	11	12	29	37	−8	32
11	Kolos Kovalivka	30	7	11	12	22	31	−9	32
12	Chornomorets Odesa	30	10	2	18	38	47	−9	32
13	Veres Rivne (O)	30	6	10	14	31	46	−15	28	Qualification for the Relegation play-off
14	Obolon Kyiv (O)	30	5	11	14	18	41	−23	26	Qualification for the Relegation play-off
15	Mynai (R)	30	5	10	15	27	50	−23	25	Relegation to Ukrainian First League
16	Metalist 1925 Kharkiv (R)	30	5	8	17	32	57	−25	23	Relegation to Ukrainian First League

Source: upl.ua
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw or "Golden match" if two teams tied for title (Article 22, paragraph 3).
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated

Relegation play-offs[]

Teams that placed 13th and 14th in the 2023–24 Ukrainian Premier League play two-leg play-off with the third and fourth teams of the 2023–24 Ukrainian First League.

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
Epitsentr Kamianets-Podilskyi	2–4	Veres Rivne	1–1	1–3
Obolon Kyiv	2–1	Livyi Bereh Kyiv	1–0	1–1

First leg[]

29 May 2024 15:30	Epitsentr Kamianets-Podilskyi	1–1	Veres Rivne	Arena Livyi Bereh Attendance: 1,170 Referee: Viktor Kopiyevskyi
	Moroz 28'	Report	Hayduchyk 80'

29 May 2024 18:00	Obolon Kyiv	1–0	Livyi Bereh Kyiv	Obolon Arena Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Maksym Kozyriatskyi
	Moroz 53'	Report		Obolon Arena Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Maksym Kozyriatskyi

Second leg[]

2 June 2024 17:00	Veres Rivne	3–1	Epitsentr Kamianets-Podilskyi	Avanhard Stadium Attendance: 3,789 Referee: Oleksiy Derevinskyi
	Hayduchyk 7', 45+4' Sharay 45+2'	Report	Sten 89'

2 June 2024 16:00	Livyi Bereh Kyiv	1–1	Obolon Kyiv	Arena Livyi Bereh Attendance: 1,711 Referee: Mykola Balakin
	Sidnney 54'	Report	Krasnopir 65'	Arena Livyi Bereh Attendance: 1,711 Referee: Mykola Balakin

Results[]

Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis.

Home \ Away	CHO	DN1	DYN	KOL	KRY	LNZ	M25	MYN	OBL	OLK	PZH	RUX	SHA	VER	VOR	ZOR
Chornomorets Odesa		0–2	3–2	1–0	1–2	1–3	3–0	3–0	2–0	3–2	1–0	2–3	1–4	0–1	0–1	0–0
Dnipro-1	5–2		1–2	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–2	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–2	2–2
Dynamo Kyiv	1–0	0–1		5–0	3–1	1–1	4–2	4–1	2–0	4–2	3–0	2–0	0–1	3–0	2–0	2–0
Kolos Kovalivka	2–0	0–2	1–1		0–3	1–3	1–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–2	2–0	0–0	0–1
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	1–0	3–0	0–2	1–0		2–0	3–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–3	3–3	2–1	1–1	2–2
LNZ Cherkasy	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	0–3		0–1	1–2	3–0	0–0	1–2	2–1	0–3	1–0	1–0	2–1
Metalist 1925 Kharkiv	2–1	1–1	2–4	0–0	1–3	1–1		1–0	1–1	0–3	3–3	1–4	1–2	1–2	3–2	2–1
Mynai	2–0	1–1	1–3	3–2	0–1	0–3	2–0		0–1	2–2	2–3	1–1	1–4	0–0	0–0	1–1
Obolon Kyiv	1–1	0–1	2–4	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–1		0–3	1–0	0–0	0–3	0–0	0–1	2–4
Oleksandriya	1–5	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	2–2		0–3	2–2	0–3	1–0	1–0	0–0
Polissia Zhytomyr	1–4	1–1	3–2	1–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–2		0–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–1
Rukh Lviv	2–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	0–0	1–1		1–1	3–1	4–1	2–1
Shakhtar Donetsk	3–0	1–3	1–0	3–2	5–2	3–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	3–1		2–0	1–2	2–1
Veres Rivne	3–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–0	4–3	3–1	3–0	2–2	0–2	2–5	1–1		1–2	2–2
Vorskla Poltava	2–1	2–3	1–5	0–2	1–4	0–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–0	0–3	1–1	0–1	2–1		1–2
Zorya Luhansk	1–0	0–1	0–3	0–1	1–3	1–2	2–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	1–3	1–1	1–0

Source: UPL calendar
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics[]

Top goalscorers[]

As of 25 May 2024 (2024-05-25)

Rank	Scorer	Team	Goals (Pen.)
1	Vladyslav Vanat	Dynamo Kyiv	14 (2)
2	Danylo Sikan	Shakhtar Donetsk	10 (0)
2	Vitaliy Buyalskyi	Dynamo Kyiv	10 (3)
4	Oleksandr Filippov	Dnipro-1	9 (0)
	Eduardo Guerrero	Zorya Luhansk	9 (0)
	Oleksiy Hutsulyak	Dnipro-1	9 (0)
	Oleh Kozhushko	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	8 (0)
8	Illya Kvasnytsya	Rukh Lviv	8 (0)
	Andriy Shtohrin	Chornomorets Odesa	8 (0)
	Andriy Yarmolenko	Dynamo Kyiv	8 (2)

Clean sheets[]