József Szabo: "I thought van Leeuwen would be sacked from Shakhtar after a series of defeats at the training camp"

Former Dynamo head coach Jozsef Sabo shared his expectations from the new season of the Ukrainian championship.

- Who will become the UPL champion?

- I think Shakhtar will win again. The Donetsk club is back to betting on Brazilians and they managed to keep the squad. "Dynamo will be hard. Yarmolenko alone will not help. I believe that Andriy will be a coach on the field. But I am afraid that he will not offend young guys.

- Who will be in the top-5 of the UPL?

- 1. "Shakhtar". 2. "Dnipro-1. 3. "Dynamo. 4. "Zorya". 5. "Vorskla." I do not think that Dynamo will manage to squeeze Dnipro-1 from the second place. Kyivians have not played with any serious team in the control games, so they are a mystery for me.

I don't see who can compete for the top five. I hope that Vorskla, under Skrypnyk's leadership, will finally get back on their feet. I did not expect them to perform so badly in the first part of last season.

"Polesie"? They even got Usik! But I don't know why. Maybe Usik will prepare and help them. I think, in the first season "Polesie" will be in the middle of the table, it will be difficult for them to qualify for the top-5.

- Who will drop out of the UPL?

- There will be a tense struggle to stay in the UPL, any team not among the favourites can drop out. The main outsiders I will name Minai, Veres, LNZ and Obolon.

- Who will win the Ukrainian Cup?

- There are three favourites: Shakhtar, Dynamo and Dnipro-1. The Cup will be won by the team who will be the first to drop out of the European Cup and will not play on three fronts.

- Who will perform best in the European cups, and who will fail?

- "Shakhtar are getting stronger, buying Brazilians, probably, Akhmetov realises that they need transfers to perform well in the Champions League. I think the Donetsk team will perform the best, but a lot will depend on the draw.

Who will fail? "Zorya" is very weakened, the coach has changed there. I also do not have high hopes for "Vorskla". Poltava team look bad on the international arena, losing to weak teams.

- Who will be the top scorer in UPL?

- If Dovbik stays, he will definitely become the top scorer. Rusin, Vanat, Kelsey are still young players.

Foreigners believe that Dnipro-1 keeps Dovbik like in prison, they do not want to sell him for cheap. I do not understand Kolomoisky at all! He has a lot of money, he does not know what to do with it, and he cannot support the team properly. "Dnipro-1 needed to strengthen before the Champions League. For some reason, Shakhtar buys Brazilians, but Kolomoisky can't do it!

As for Girona, Dovbik does not need to go there, he deserves a better team. He would be well suited to the English championship. Dovbic is textured, knows how to block with his body. If Tottenham sell Kane, I would advise them to consider Dovbic.

"Girona are an average team. It was shouted that Tsygankov would leave there for Man City in a year, but there are still no offers for him.

- Who will be the discovery of the championship from the young players?

- I really like Brazhko. I hope that after Zorya he will be able to play in Dynamo. I think, an English team will buy him soon. To Torino for 4 million? I think Brazhko will cost more. In England they play tough, but not as rough as in Italy, so Brazko should go to APL. Serie A is a very injury prone championship and it takes some getting used to.

- Which coach will be the first to resign?

- You have to look at the presidents. You can lose a few games in a row and be out of a job. In general, I thought that van Leeuwen would be fired from Shakhtar after a series of defeats at the training camp.

- Which player of the UPL club do you expect to be transferred to Europe this season?

- Apart from Dovbik and Brazhko, I can't even name anyone, except for Trubin. "Inter" sold Onan and Anatoliy can become the main goalkeeper of the Milan club, but so far they cannot agree on a price with Shakhtar. God willing, Trubin will go to Europe.

Andriy PISKUN