2018 Uzbekistan Super League
# 2018 Uzbekistan Super League

The 2018 Uzbekistan Super League (known as the Pepsi Uzbekistan Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the 27th season of top level football in Uzbekistan since 1992. Lokomotiv Tashkent were the defending champions from the 2017 campaign.

## Teams

On 21 November 2017 according to UzPFL management decision the Uzbek League was officially renamed to Uzbekistan Super League starting from 2018 season. The number of teams playing in top division of Uzbek football is reduced from 16 to 12.

The draw for the 2018 Super League season was held on 3 February 2018. The first matchday is scheduled for 1 March 2018.

Sementchi, the winner of 2017 Uzbekistan First League did not participate in new Super League season. The club failed to pass licensing procedures like Mash'al Mubarek. These both clubs have been replaced by Neftchi Fergana and Sogdiana Jizzakh which according to 2017 season have been relegated to First League.

| Club | Coach | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Kit sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| AGMK | Viktor Kumykov | Olmaliq | AGMK Stadium | 12,000 | Adidas |
| Bunyodkor | Mirjalol Qosimov | Tashkent | Bunyodkor Stadium | 34,000 | Jako |
| Bukhoro | Ulughbek Baqayev | Bukhara | Bukhara Arena | 22,700 | Macron |
| Kokand 1912 | Numon Hasanov | Kokand | Kokand Stadium | 10,500 | Joma |
| Lokomotiv | Andrey Fyodorov | Tashkent | Lokomotiv Stadium | 8,000 | Joma |
| Metallurg | Andrey Shipilov | Bekabad | Metallurg Stadium | 15,000 | Joma |
| Nasaf | Ruziqul $Berdiyev^{ru}$ | Qarshi | Qarshi Markazi Stadium | 16,000 | Adidas |
| Navbahor | Ilkhom Muminjonov | Namangan | Namangan Markazi Stadium | 22,000 | Jako |
| Neftchi | Sergey Kovshov | Ferghana | Istiqlol Stadium | 20,000 | Joma |
| Pakhtakor | Shota Arveladze | Tashkent | Pakhtakor Stadium | 35,000 | Adidas |
| Sogdiana | Sergey Lushan | Jizzakh | Soghdiana Stadium | 11,650 | Joma |
| Qizilqum | Hamidjon Aktamov | Zarafshan | Progress Stadium | 12,500 | Joma |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Metallurg | Rustam Mirsodikov | Resigned | 25 December 2017 | Pre-season | Andrey Shipilov | 25 December 2017 |
| Sogdiana | Igor Shkvyrin | Resigned | 27 December 2017 | Pre-season | Alexander Mochinov | 27 December 2017 |
| Neftchi | Vadim Abramov | | 27 December 2017 | Pre-season | Sergey Kovshov | 27 January 2018 |
| Sogdiana | Alexander Mochinov | Sacked | 7 April 2018 | 12th | Sergey Lushan | 7 April 2018 |
| Lokomotiv | Andrey Miklyaev | Resigned | 19 April 2018 | 10th | Andrey Fyodorov | 19 April 2018 |

## Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to five per USL team. A team can use only five foreign players on the field in each game.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | AFC Player |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| AGMK | Miloš Trifunović | Vladimir Bubanja | Jovan Đokić | Vladislav Kosmynin | Pavel Matyash |
| Bunyodkor | Filip Rajevac | | | | |
| Bukhara | Sergey Rusetsky | Vlad Larinov | Vadim Cemirtan | Marko Klisura | Arslanmyrat Amanow |
| Kokand 1912 | Darko Gojkovic | Milan Spremo | Marko Milič | | |
| Lokomotiv Tashkent | Kakha Makharadze | Igor Jelić | Nikolai Pogrebnyak | Nivaldo | Cho Suk-jae |
| Metallurg Bekabad | Andrei Shipilov | | | | Zoir Juraboev |
| Nasaf | Slavko Lukic | | | | Jahongir Aliev |
| Navbahor | Darko Stanojević | Tomislav Pajović | Darko Nikač | Igor Golban | Nenad Injac |
| Neftchi Ferghana | Vyacheslav Sushkin | Vitali Myrnyi | | | |
| Pakhtakor | Marko Simić | Isma | Tiago Bezerra | Dragan Ceran | Rostyn Griffiths |
| Soghdiana | Darvydas Šernas | Miloš Simonović | Nikola Milinković | Milan Mitrović | Kim Dong-hee |
| Qizilqum | Elgujja Grigalashvili | Giorgi Kvesieshvili | Nemanja Jovanovic | Yevgeni Cheremisin | Artur Gevorkyan |

In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

## Regular stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Pakhtakor | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 12 | +24 | 47 | Qualification to Championship Round |
| 2 | Lokomotiv | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 35 | 21 | +14 | 40 | Qualification to Championship Round |
| 3 | Bunyodkor | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 35 | 26 | +9 | 40 | Qualification to Championship Round |
| 4 | Navbahor | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 29 | 18 | +11 | 37 | Qualification to Championship Round |
| 5 | Metallurg | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 24 | 29 | −5 | 33 | Qualification to Championship Round |
| 6 | Bukhoro | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 23 | 28 | −5 | 32 | Qualification to Championship Round |
| 7 | Kokand 1912 | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 20 | +1 | 28 | Relegation Round |
| 8 | AGMK | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 28 | −2 | 26 | Relegation Round |
| 9 | Nasaf | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 21 | 28 | −7 | 26 | Relegation Round |
| 10 | Qizilqum | 22 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 20 | 29 | −9 | 23 | Relegation Round |
| 11 | Sogdiana | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 32 | −15 | 17 | Relegation Round |
| 12 | Neftchi | 22 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 28 | −16 | 15 | Relegation Round |

## Championship round

Teams keep records from regular stage (10 matches) against championship round opponents.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Lokomotiv (C) | 20 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 37 | 17 | +20 | 46 | Qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Pakhtakor | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 38 | 17 | +21 | 37 | Qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League preliminary round 2 |
| 3 | Navbahor | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 18 | +2 | 31 | |
| 4 | Bunyodkor | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 27 | |
| 5 | Metallurg | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 28 | −16 | 19 | |
| 6 | Bukhoro | 20 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 14 | 41 | −27 | 10 | |

## Relegation round

Teams keep records from regular stage (10 matches) against relegation round opponents.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 7 | Nasaf | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 16 | +8 | 34 | |
| 8 | Qizilqum | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 31 | |
| 9 | Kokand 1912 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 28 | |
| 10 | AGMK | 20 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 23 | +2 | 27 | Qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League preliminary round 2 and relegation play-off |
| 11 | Sogdiana | 20 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 23 | −5 | 24 | Relegation play-off |
| 12 | Neftchi (R) | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 26 | −12 | 18 | Relegation to Uzbekistan Pro League |

## Relegation play-off

Sogdiana and AGMK will play in 2019 Uzbekistan Super League next season.

## Season statistics

### Top scorers

    As of November 2018

| # | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tiago Bezerra | Pakhtakor | 17 |
| 2 | Esmaël Gonçalves | Pakhtakor | 16 |
| 3 | Marat Bikmaev | Lokomotiv | 14 |
| 4 | Bobur Abdikholikov | Nasaf | 13 |
| 5 | Jovan Đokić | AGMK | 11 |
| 5 | Murod Kholmukhamedov | Kokand 1912 | 11 |
| 5 | Jovlon Ibrokhimov | Bunyodkor | 11 |
