"Metalist 1925" - "Kryvbas". Preview

The second part of the UPL season begins for Kryvbas with a match against Metalist 1925, which we won in the first round 2:0 thanks to accurate shots by Mendoza and Paraco.

Both teams held winter training in Spain and held many friendly matches. Kryvbas played seven friendly matches: Midtjylland Denmark - 0:3, Aarhus Denmark - 2:4, Daejeon Citizen South Korea - 3:3, Tianjin Tigers China - 3:0, Brentford B England - 0:0, Liepaja Latvia - 1:1, Sogndal Norway - 2:1.

Metalist 1925, in turn, faced the following opponents: Wolfsberg Austria – 0:1, Pardubice Czech Republic – 0:1, Montreal Canada – 3:2, Seattle Sounders USA – 3:0, Hammarby Sweden – 3:4, Jeonbuk South Korea – 1:1, Molde Norway – 1:0.

Kryvbas’s squad was joined by three new players in the winter: defender Jones from Panama, midfielder Seck from Senegal and Israeli forward Adam; Metalist 1925 has defender Dubko, midfielders: Colombian Arevalo and Venezuelan Castillo and Ghanaian forward Owusu-Frimpong.

The opponents are neighbors in the table, so we expect an interesting confrontation.

BUY SEASON TICKET PASSES

Ukrainian Championship 2025\2026. VBET League. Round 17.

Metalist 1925 Kharkiv - Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih.

Saturday, February 21, 2026. Zhytomyr. Central City Stadium "Polissya". 15:30.

Referee appointments:

Referee: Mykola Balakin (Kyiv region).

Assistant referees: Oleksandr Berkut (Sumy), Viktor Matyash (Donetsk).

Fourth referee: Oleh Kohut (Ternopil).

Referee observer: Andriy Shandor (Lviv).

UAF delegate: Yuriy Nestryga (Kyiv).

VAR referee: Viktor Kopievsky (Kropyvnytskyi).

VAR assistant: Artem Mykhaylyuk (Kyiv).

VAR observer: Ihor Yarmenchuk (Kyiv).

Broadcast: UPL TV.

Last match of the opponent in the championship:

Obolon - Metalist 1925 1:3 (1:0). VBET League 2025\2026. 16th round. 12.12.2025.

Goals: Denys Ustimenko, 34 (1:0). Vyacheslav Churko, 56 (1:1). Peter Itodo, 60 (1:2). Christian Mba, 90+2 (1:3).

Metalist 1925: Varakuta, Salyuk, Pavlyuk, Shabanov, Krupsky, Kalyuzhny (k), Antyukh, Churko (Lytvynenko, 74), Zabergdzha (Martynyuk, 90+2), Rashitsa (Mba, 87), Itodo (Kohut, 74).

Substitutes: Mozil, Snurnitsyn, Bahriy, Panchenko, Karpizin.

Head coach: Mladen Bartulovic.

Interesting facts:

- in total, 5 matches were played between the teams in the championships of Ukraine: +1=0-4 (3-10) - advantage on the side of the red and whites;

- Kryvbas played eight times in the current season in away matches: +3=2-3 (13-16) - 14 points;

- tomorrow will be the 740th anniversary match of the red-whites in the UPL, including the 370th away match;

- the losing home series of the Kharkiv team continues in the UPL for 2 rounds.

Media of FC "Kryvbas" Kryvyi Rih