2022–23 Ukrainian Premier League
The 2022–23 Ukrainian Premier League season, referred to as the VBet Liha for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd top-level football club competition since the fall of the Soviet Union and the 15th since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League.
 Official logo | |
| Season | 2022–23 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 23 August 2022 – 4 June 2023 |
| Champions | Shakhtar Donetsk 14th Ukrainian league title |
| Relegated | Lviv Metalist Kharkiv Inhulets Petrove |
| Champions League | Shakhtar Donetsk Dnipro-1 |
| Europa League | Zorya Luhansk |
| Europa Conference League | Dynamo Kyiv Vorskla Poltava |
| Matches played | 191 |
| Goals scored | 479 (2.51 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Artem Dovbyk (24 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Dnipro-1 5–0 Metalist (3 May 2023) |
| Biggest away win | Metalist 1925 0–7 Shakhtar (5 March 2023) |
| Highest scoring | Metalist 5–5 Veres (15 April 2023) |
| Longest winning run | Dnipro-1 Shakhtar (6 matches) |
| Longest unbeaten run | Dnipro-1 (13 matches) |
| Longest winless run | Metalist (17 matches) |
| Longest losing run | Lviv (6 matches) |
| Total attendance | 0 |
| Average attendance | 0 |
← 2021–22 2023–24 → All statistics correct as of 4 June 2022. | |
The defending champions are the 16-time winners Dynamo Kyiv. The previous 2021–22 season was abandoned due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although Shakhtar Donetsk were at the top of the table when the league was abandoned, no title was officially awarded ("The handing out of awards to the league's medalists will not take place").
The current season began on 23 August 2022 and ended on 3 June 2023. Shakhtar Donetsk were crowned champions for the 14th time in their history.
Preparation
War in Ukraine
Due to the full-scale invasion of Russia, teams were discussing the possibility of playing in western Ukraine as well as Poland. On 27 May 2022, a conference was held in the House of Football involving participants of the Ukrainian Premier League along with the UAF presidium. Topics discussed at the conference included the continuation of the league, possible places and dates of conducting it as well as its format for the future season. On 25 June, the league's executive director, Yevhen Dykyi, explained that the season was expected to start on 20 August in the usual format with 16 participants. Later, the president of the Ukrainian Association of Football clarified that the only teams allowed to play abroad would be those still in continental competitions, subject to their opponents' agreement.
Some football functionaries criticised conducting the competitions due to risks of deliberate Russian missile attacks.
Official ball
PUMA Orbita Ball is official football ball of the 2022–23 Ukrainian Premier League, and the Puma brand became an official technical sponsor. It is the leading ball model, certified by FIFA, designed specifically for professional football.
- The ball formed with high frequency technology provides excellent stability and reduced water absorption, as well as a soft ball feel.
- New 12-panel concept: identical sized panels for a perfectly balanced weight and flight behavior.
- Surface: 1.2mm thick 3D surface for greater durability and better aerodynamics. Innovative POE foam for strong grip, improved rebound performance and impact strength.
Teams
This season the Ukrainian Premier League has kept 16 teams, which includes 14 teams from the previous season and the top two teams from the 2021–22 Ukrainian First League. Two teams had their status suspended due to the Russian occupation and/or destruction of their sports infrastructure.
Promoted teams
- Metalist Kharkiv – first-placed team of the 2021–22 Ukrainian First League (debut, a phoenix club of another Metalist Kharkiv that last competed in 2015–16)
- Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih – second-placed team of the 2021–22 Ukrainian First League (debut, a phoenix club of another Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih that last competed in 2012–13)
Omitted teams
- Mariupol – the 16th place team of the 2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League (ending their five-year stay in the top-flight)
- Desna Chernihiv – the 7th place team of the 2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League (ending their four-year stay in the top-flight)
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.
Location map
Teams in italics are from a conflict zone of the war in Donbas and are playing their home games in different cities.
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 |
| Metalist 1925 Kharkiv | used as home ground during the season | ||||
| FC Oleksandriya | used as home ground during the season | ||||
| Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | used as home ground during the season | ||||
| 2 | Arena Lviv | Lviv | Dynamo Kyiv | 34,915 | used as home ground in Round 2 and 4 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | used as home ground in Round 4 | ||||
| 3 | Chornomorets Stadium | Odesa | Chornomorets Odesa | 34,164 | |
| 4 | Ukraina Stadium | Lviv | Rukh Lviv | 27,925 | |
| 5 | Butovsky Vorskla Stadium | Poltava | Vorskla Poltava | 24,795 | |
| 6 | Dynamo Stadium | Kyiv | Dynamo Kyiv | 16,873 | |
| Zorya Luhansk | used as home ground during the season | ||||
| 7 | Avanhard Stadium | Uzhhorod | Metalist Kharkiv | 12,000 | used as home ground during the season |
| Vorskla Poltava | used as home ground in Round 2 | ||||
| Zorya Luhansk | used as home ground in Round 1 | ||||
| Dnipro-1 | used as home ground during the season | ||||
| 8 | Kolos Stadium | Kovalivka | Kolos Kovalivka | 5,050 | |
| 9 | Avanhard Stadium | Rivne | Veres Rivne | 4,650 | |
| 10 | Skif Stadium | Lviv | FC Lviv | 4,033 | |
| 11 | Hirnyk Stadium | Kryvyi Rih | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | 2,500 | |
| 12 | Inhulets Stadium | Petrove | Inhulets Petrove | 1,869 | |
| 13 | Bannikov Stadium | Kyiv | Chornomorets Odesa | 1,678 | used as home ground in Round 1 |
| 14 | Mynai Arena | Mynai | FC Mynai | 1,312 | |
| Vorskla Poltava | used as home ground in Round 4 |
Personnel and sponsorship
Notes:
- On 22 April 2023 right after the Klasychne (Classic) rivalry with Shakhtar Donetsk, Mircea Lucescu announced at press-conference that he is taking a sick leave and the team (Dynamo Kyiv) will be managed temporarily by Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vorskla Poltava |  Yuriy Maksymov | Dismissed | 2 June 2022 | Pre-season | Viktor Skrypnyk | 1 July 2022 |
| Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | Oleksandr Babych | Mutual agreement | 6 June 2022 | Yuriy Vernydub | 21 June 2022 | |
| Zorya Luhansk | Viktor Skrypnyk | Moved to Vorskla Poltava | 28 June 2022 |  Patrick van Leeuwen | 28 June 2022 | |
| Dnipro-1 |  Igor Jovićević | End of contract | 30 June 2022 | Oleksandr Kucher | 29 July 2022 | |
| Shakhtar Donetsk |  Roberto De Zerbi | Mutual agreement | 11 July 2022 | Igor Jovićević | 14 July 2022 | |
| Metalist Kharkiv | Oleksandr Kucher | Moved to SC Dnipro-1 | 13 July 2022 | Oleh Ratiy (caretaker) | 13 July 2022 | |
| Metalist 1925 Kharkiv | Valeriy Kryventsov | Sacked | 22 October 2022 | 10th | Edmar (caretaker) | 23 October 2022 |
| Inhulets Petrove | Serhiy Lavrynenko | Mutual consent | 13 November 2022 | 15th | Mladen Bartulović (interim) | 13 November 2022 |
| Oleksandriya | Yuriy Hura | Dismissed | 14 December 2022 | 5th | Ruslan Rotan | 21 December 2022 |
| Inhulets Petrove | Mladen Bartulović (interim) | End of interim | 29 December 2022 | 14th | Serhiy Kovalets | 29 December 2022 |
| Metalist Kharkiv | Oleh Ratiy (interim) | Change of role | 27 January 2023 | 11th |  Perica Ognjenović (interim) | 27 January 2023 |
| Rukh Lviv |  Leonid Kuchuk | Sacked | 19 March 2023 | 14th | Vitaliy Ponomaryov | 20 March 2023 |
| FC Lviv | Oleg Dulub | Resigned | 21 March 2023 | 16th | Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi | 21 March 2023 |
| FC Lviv | Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi | Resigned | 1 June 2023 | 16th | Roman Handzyn (interim) | 1 June 2023 |
| Inhulets Petrove | Serhiy Kovalets | Mutual agreement | 4 June 2023 | 14th | Vladyslav Lupashko (interim) | 4 June 2023 |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk (C) | 30 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 69 | 21 | +48 | 72 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Dnipro-1 | 30 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 61 | 27 | +34 | 67 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Zorya Luhansk | 30 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 61 | 34 | +27 | 64 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | Dynamo Kyiv | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 51 | 25 | +26 | 60 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Vorskla Poltava | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 38 | 37 | +1 | 45 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 6 | Oleksandriya | 30 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 42 | 39 | +3 | 44 | |
| 7 | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 26 | 30 | −4 | 41 | |
| 8 | Mynai | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 25 | 30 | −5 | 36 | |
| 9 | Kolos Kovalivka | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 23 | 36 | −13 | 36 | |
| 10 | Chornomorets Odesa | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 35 | |
| 11 | Rukh Lviv | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 32 | |
| 12 | Metalist 1925 Kharkiv | 30 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 23 | 42 | −19 | 32 | |
| 13 | Veres Rivne (O) | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 31 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 14 | Inhulets Petrove (R) | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 34 | −12 | 31 | |
| 15 | Metalist Kharkiv (R) | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 27 | 58 | −31 | 22 | Relegation to Ukrainian First League |
| 16 | Lviv (R) | 30 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 18 | 52 | −34 | 13 | Suspended its operations for the next season |
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) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
Results
Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis.
