Kharkiv - Bukovyna. Viktor Vatska's forecast for the 7th round of the UPL
In the seventh round of the UPL, ambitious "Kharkiv" and "Bukovyna" will meet at the "Arena Left Bank". Both teams have started the championship well, and they approach the face-to-face meeting in good spirits. However, the clear favorite in this duel is the nominal home team.
"Kharkiv" could not play the match of the previous round in Kryvyi Rih against "Kryvbas" due to the security situation. That match was postponed, and the new date of its holding is still unknown. However, during the week, Kharkiv residents gained playing practice in the Ukrainian Cup, defeating the first league team "Prykarpattia" (2:0) away.
"Bukovyna" did not deviate from the busy schedule, so it has stable playing practice. However, during the week in the Cup, it failed to achieve a positive result - it was eliminated in a penalty shootout by LNZ. However, the match itself ended in a goalless draw, and the fiasco of "Bukovyna" is only related to the infamous penalty shootout.
It is the extremely reliable defense factor that distinguishes "Bukovyna" this season. Serhiy Shyshchenko's team kept a clean sheet in four out of six initial UPL matches. "Bukovyna" practically failed only once - in the third round against "Karpaty" (0:3), but after that, there was a spectacular "comeback" in front of their own fans in the match against "Dynamo" (3:0). Therefore, to some extent, the newcomer to the elite division is extremely unpredictable in terms of predictions. By the way, what also distinguishes "Bukovyna" favorably compared to many other mid-table teams in the championship is that this team is not afraid of favorites, so "Kharkiv" will not have an easy time in the return match.
However, Mladen Bartulovich's team is also not used to shying away from difficult tasks. In the current championship, "Kharkiv" lost two out of five matches, but both fiascos happened in duels with clear favorites - "Polissya" (1:3) and "Shakhtar" (0:1). Moreover, the Kharkiv residents lost to the "miners" not due to the game, and in that match, they should have at least taken one point. Against the rest of the opponents, whose nominal level is lower than that of the top teams in Ukraine in European competitions, "Kharkiv" has coped without any major problems - 1:0 against "Veres", 3:0 against "Zorya", and 5:0 against "Obolon". It is noteworthy that in their own goal, Bartulovich's wards conceded only from favorites, while in three other games, they left the field, keeping their goal "dry".
In the face-to-face duel against "Bukovyna," "Kharkiv" is the clear favorite. The only serious problem that Bartulovich's team may face is that they find it extremely difficult to break down so-called "parked buses". And the guests are capable of playing from their goal, hoping for quick counterattacks. If "Kharkiv" loses its pace, then the game of this team usually becomes extremely predictable, if not stale.
As for the forecast, it is still worth betting on "Kharkiv". The players of this team are in very good shape, having received an unplanned rest last week, and along with it - the opportunity to better prepare physically. Plus, the game will be nominally home for Bartulovich's team, which also means something. The outcome of 2:0 in favor of "Kharkiv" seems quite justified and logical. And on BETKING, they currently offer a good coefficient (1.77) for the victory of Kharkiv residents.
