In one of the central matches of the ninth round of the UPL, Polissia Zhytomyr will play against Shakhtar Donetsk. The meeting will start at 18:00 Kyiv time.
Zhytomyr is a forest
The start of the season was difficult for Polissia, it was difficult for the team to combine the European Cups and the domestic arena. As a result, the club was relegated from the Conference League, although it reached the qualifying play-off stage, losing there to Fiorentina. Ruslan Rotan’s wards suffered 3 defeats in the opening four UPL matches, after which they were able to come to their senses, winning four in a row.
Thanks to their surge, the club climbed to fourth place in the standings, now just two points behind the leaders. In the last round, Polissia beat the debutant and outsider SC Poltava on their field with a score of 4:0. The team has already been relegated from the national cup, so all efforts will be focused on the championship.
Shakhtar Donetsk
“Miners” lead the championship after eight rounds, but the fight here is tight, the distance from the nearest competitor is only one point, and from the seventh place – three points. In the last round, Shakhtar sensationally lost at home to lowly LNZ Cherkassy with a score of 1:4, this defeat was the first in all tournaments when it comes to regular time.
The club still plays in the Conference League, where it has a good chance to make it to the playoffs, although there is still a lot of struggle ahead. A decline in the game and results of Arda Turan’s wards could be expected, after all, they sold Kevin and Sudakov, who were actually the leaders of the team.
“Miners” still have a lot of strong players, so I don’t think that the team will have a protracted crisis, because winning the championship is a priority.
Personal meetings
The clubs have an unusual history of face-to-face confrontations, Shakhtar has never beaten an opponent in regular time, and the teams have played five times, in three cases Polissya won. Last season, the “miners” lost both face-to-face meetings of the championship with the same score of 0:1. There was another match in the Cup of Ukraine, here Shakhtar advanced thanks to a goal in overtime.
Forecast
The guests are quoted as favorites for the upcoming battle, but this is one of the rare cases when the “miners” seriously risk losing points.
GGBET experts give the following prediction for this meeting: victory of Polissia – 4.13, draw – 3.61, victory of Shakhtar – 1.86. See the GGBET line on the site and find an interesting match. Hold your line!
The match is also interesting because the teams are direct competitors, only two points separate them in the standings. I bet on the exchange of scored goals in this confrontation at 1.84.
Forested
October 18, 2025 –
18:00
Shakhtar Donetsk
Both will score 
1.84 Make a bet KRAIL license No. 128 dated August 8, 2023
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Source: sport.ua