Kryvbas - Kharkiv. Preview and Prediction for UPL Match on 12.09.2026

Football.ua presents a preview of the match of the Ukrainian championship, which will take place on September 12 and will start at 13:00.

As part of the sixth round of the Ukrainian Premier League 2026/27, Krivbas will play a home match against Kharkiv in Kryvyi Rih.

Krivbas - Kharkiv

Saturday, September 12, 13:00. Hirnyk Stadium, Kryvyi Rih. Main referee - Denys Shurman (Kyiv region). Live broadcast on UPL.TV

Krivbas continues to show unstable results at the start of the season, which is traditional for the team from Kryvyi Rih after the summer break when most of the squad changes.

After a failure in the opening round of the UPL against Karpaty (1:4), Krivbas defeated Zorya (3:1), then drew with Livyi Bereh (1:1) and knocked out Rukh (3:0) in the Ukrainian Cup.

In the second part of the starting segment, Patrick van Leuven's team started with an unexpected defeat to Chornomorets (0:1), then managed to earn one point against Kolos (2:2). A few days ago, the team dealt with Olimpik (2:0) in the Cup.

Overall, looking at the results, the situation looks quite workable, and nothing terrible has happened considering the squad changes in the summer and the departure of several leaders. Van Leuven is now assembling the puzzle again, which sometimes leads to failures that will continue in the future... Some players continue to adapt to Ukrainian football, while young players need time and experience.

For Kharkiv, the season started with a victory over Veres (1:0), followed by two consecutive defeats - against Polissya (1:3) and Shakhtar (0:1), and if we take the friendly match against Livyi Bereh (1:2), then three consecutive defeats.

Based on these games, it could be said that Mladen Bartulovich's team lacked points, as they showed a good game, especially against the "miners," but somewhere they were unlucky due to the actions of the referees, and somewhere the finishing let them down.

Then there was a match in the Ukrainian Cup, where there was a record victory (9:0) against Kalynivka, which motivated the players for further success in the championship - victories over Zorya (3:0) and Obolon (5:0).

Thus, Kharkiv is currently gaining form and continues the progress of the previous season. In the last three games, the attacking potential was excellently demonstrated - 17 goals, and the defense was also solid, not conceding any goals.

It will not be easy for Kharkiv in the confrontation against Krivbas, considering the fighting qualities of the team on their home ground, but there are prerequisites for a good result, and Bartulovich needs to tune the players in the right direction to continue progressing and stay in the top half of the table.

The teams have played seven matches against each other, six of which were official. Krivbas has four victories against two for Kharkiv. The goal difference is 11:6 in favor of Kryvyi Rih. Last season, Krivbas defeated Kharkiv (2:0) at home, followed by a draw - 0:0.

According to bookmakers, today the chances of success are higher for Mladen Bartulovich's team. Thus, the odds for Kharkiv's victory in regular time are 1.66, while the potential success of Krivbas is estimated at 5.00. The probability of a draw is represented by odds of 4.00.

Possible line-ups:

Krivbas: Kemkin - Mashadu, Jones, Vilvald, Borges - Navi, Shevchenko, Herbert - Rivas, Sek, Kamenskyi.

Kharkiv: Yermakov - Krupskyi, Shabanov, Salyuk, Smolyakov - Gadzhiev, Pavlyuk, Kalyuzhnyi, Zabergdja - Parako, Itodo.

Interesting facts:

- Krivbas has a conceding streak of 14 goals in eight games in the championship;

- Kharkiv's unbeaten streak in the UPL lasts six games: four wins and two losses;

- Patrick van Leuven can achieve his 40th coaching victory in the UPL;

- 40 home matches for Patrick van Leuven at the top level with Ukrainian clubs;

- Volodymyr Vilvald (Krivbas) can play his 50th match in the UPL;

- Peter Itodo can score 15 goals in the UPL, while Carlos Parako can score his tenth (both from Kharkiv);

- Carlos Parako (Kharkiv) played for Krivbas last season.

Head-to-head meetings: