# 2021 Kazakhstan Premier League

The 2021 Kazakhstan Premier League was the 30th season of the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest football league competition in Kazakhstan. FC Kairat were the defending champions after winning their third title the previous season. FC Tobol won their second title.

## Teams

FC Okzhetpes (relegated after two years in the top flight) was relegated at the end of the 2020 season, whilst FC Irtysh Pavlodar withdrew from the league in May 2020, and as a result also dropped down into the Kazakhstan First Division. They were replaced by FC Aktobe and FC Atyrau after they had spent one season in the Kazakhstan First Division.

### Team overview

| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Aktobe | Aktobe | Central Stadium | 13,200 |
| Akzhayik | Oral | Petr Atoyan Stadium | 8,320 |
| Astana | Nur-Sultan | Astana Arena | 30,000 |
| Atyrau | Atyrau | Munaishy Stadium | 8,690 |
| Caspiy | Aktau | Zhastar Stadium | 5,000 |
| Kairat | Almaty | Central Stadium | 25,057 |
| Kaisar | Kyzylorda | Gani Muratbayev Stadium | 7,500 |
| Kyzylzhar | Petropavl | Karasai Stadium | 11,000 |
| Ordabasy | Shymkent | Kazhymukan Munaitpasov Stadium | 20,000 |
| Shakhter | Karaganda | Shakhter Stadium | 20,000 |
| Taraz | Taraz | Central Stadium | 11,525 |
| Tobol | Kostanay | Central Stadium | 10,500 |
| Turan | Turkistan | Turkistan Arena | 7,000 |
| Zhetysu | Taldykorgan | Samat Suyumbayev Stadium | 4,000 |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aktobe | Vladimir Mukhanov | Yury Logvinenko | Adidas | Parimatch |
| Akzhayik | Volodymyr Mazyar | | Adidas | |
| Astana | Andrey Tikhonov | Abzal Beisebekov | Adidas | Samruk-Kazyna |
| Atyrau | Aram Voskanyan | | Adidas | GAZ Stroy Montazh KZ |
| Caspiy | Srdjan Blagojevic | | Macron | XCOM (Back of shirt) |
| Kairat | Kurban Berdyev | Gafurzhan Suyumbayev | Nike | Halyk Bank |
| Kaisar | Sultan Abildayev | | Adidas | - |
| Kyzylzhar | Andrei Karpovich | | Nike | |
| Ordabasy | Aleksandr Sednyov | Yerkebulan Tungyshbayev | Adidas | - |
| Shakhter | Magomed Adiyev | Arsen Khubulov | Adidas | Kazakhmys |
| Taraz | Vardan Minasyan | | Puma | - |
| Tobol | Alexander Moskalenko (Caretaker) | Azat Nurgaliyev | Adidas | Polymetal |
| Turan | Abdukhalik Buribayev | | Adidas | - |
| Zhetysu | Rinat Alyuetov | | Adidas | |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to eight per KPL team. A team can use only five foreign players on the field in each game. For the 2020 season, the KFF announced that players from countries of the Eurasian Economic Union would not be counted towards a club's foreign player limit.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Player 8 | Player 9 |
| Aktobe | Hervaine Moukam | Michal Jeřábek | Artūras Žulpa | Tongo Doumbia | Dmytro Korkishko | Vitaliy Balashov | Zaza Tsitskishvili | Joachim Adukor | |
| Akzhayik | Artem Baranovskyi | Oleksiy Chychykov | Mykola Kovtalyuk | Serhiy Litovchenko | Vitaliy Pryndeta | Ștefan Sicaci | Reginaldo | Luka Imnadze | |
| Astana | Eneo Bitri | Luka Šimunović | Marin Tomasov | Valeriu Ciupercă | Žarko Tomašević | Antonio Rukavina | Cadete | Pedro Eugénio | Fatos Bećiraj |
| Atyrau | Lazar Sajčić | Alex Bruno | Allef | Bryan | Gian | Alex Junior Christian | Piotr Grzelczak | Danijel Stojković | |
| Caspiy | Chafik Tigroudja | Miloš Stanojević | Nikola Cuckić | Marko Milošević | Nenad Gavrić | Ruslan Mingazow | Taras Bondarenko | | |
| Kairat | Vágner Love | João Paulo | Macky Bagnack | Dino Mikanović | José Kanté | Nebojša Kosović | Jacek Góralski | Ricardo Alves | Rade Dugalić |
| Kaisar | Clarence Bitang | Karolis Laukžemis | Jovan Čađenović | Stefan Denković | Ousmane N'Diaye | Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana | | | |
| Kyzylzhar | Pablo Podio | Semir Smajlagić | Carlos Fonseca | Moussa Koné | Darko Zorić | Maksym Drachenko | Yuriy Bushman | | |
| Ordabasy | Dmytro Khlyobas | Chidi Osuchukwu | Abdoulaye Diakate | Aleksandar Simčević | Muhammadjon Rakhimov | | | | |
| Shakhter | Stefan Bukorac | Edin Rustemović | Martin Toshev | Ivan Graf | David Mawutor | David Atanaskoski | Vuk Mitošević | Abdel Lamanje | Aramis Kouzine |
| Taraz | Kódjo | Faith Obilor | Nenad Adamović | Uroš Nenadović | Erivaldo | Bruno Ibeh | | | |
| Tobol | Jérémy Manzorro | Elguja Lobjanidze | Toni Silva | Aleksa Amanović | Rúben Brígido | Dušan Jovančić | Zoran Tošić | Igor Sergeev | |
| Turan | Branislav Janković | Yevhen Chumak | Milan Stojanović | Stefan Živković | Yevhen Smirnov | Samir Fazli | Stanley | | |
| Zhetysu | Artjom Dmitrijev | Tengiz Tsikaridze | Gabriel Enache | Rizvan Ablitarov | Temur Partsvania | Vladyslav Okhronchuk | Ugochukwu Oduenyi | | |
In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Aktobe | | | | Pre-Season | Alyaksey Baha | 21 January 2021 |
| Kyzylzhar | Veaceslav Rusnac | | | Pre-Season | Andrei Karpovich | 8 January 2021 |
| Ordabasy | Kakhaber Tskhadadze | | | Pre-Season | Aleksandr Sednyov | 21 January 2021 |
| Taraz | Vladimir Nikitenko | | | Pre-Season | Vardan Minasyan | 3 February 2021 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | Konstantin Gorovenka | | | Pre-Season | Ali Aliyev | 20 January 2021 |
| Zhetysu | Dmitry Ogai | | | Pre-Season | Rinat Alyuetov | 15 January 2021 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | Ali Aliyev | Resigned | 10 April 2021 | 14th | Andrei Finonchenko (Caretaker) | 10 April 2021 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | Andrei Finonchenko (Caretaker) | End of role | 16 April 2021 | 14th | Magomed Adiyev | 16 April 2021 |
| Aktobe | Alyaksey Baha | Resigned | 5 May 2021 | 10th | Vladimir Zelenovskiy (Caretaker) | 5 May 2021 |
| Aktobe | Vladimir Zelenovskiy (Caretaker) | End of role | 7 June 2021 | 10th | Vakhid Masudov | 7 June 2021 |
| Kairat | Aleksey Shpilevsky | Signed by Erzgebirge Aue | 7 June 2021 | 3rd | Kirill Keker (Caretaker) | 7 June 2021 |
| Tobol | Grigori Babayan | Signed by CSKA Moscow | 17 June 2021 | 2nd | Alexander Moskalenko (Caretaker) | 18 June 2021 |
| Aktobe | Vakhid Masudov | Resigned | 26 July 2021 | 10th | Mukhtar Erimbetov (Caretaker) | 26 July 2021 |
| Aktobe | Mukhtar Erimbetov (Caretaker) | End of role | 4 August 2021 | 10th | Vladimir Mukhanov | 4 August 2021 |
| Astana | Andrey Tikhonov | End of role | 5 November 2021 | End of season | Vladimir Yezhurov (Caretaker) | 5 November 2021 |
| Astana | Vladimir Yezhurov (Caretaker) | End of role | 21 November 2021 | End of season | Srdjan Blagojevic | 21 November 2021 |
| Caspiy | Srdjan Blagojevic | Signed by Astana | 21 November 2021 | End of season | Nikolay Kostov | 31 December 2021 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Tobol (C) | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 54 | 18 | +36 | 61 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Astana | 26 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 53 | 25 | +28 | 57 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Kairat | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 52 | 21 | +31 | 51 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Kyzylzhar | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 32 | 24 | +8 | 39 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 5 | Ordabasy | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 38 | |
| 6 | Shakhter Karagandy | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 34 | −9 | 33 | |
| 7 | Aktobe | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 33 | |
| 8 | Caspiy | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 32 | |
| 9 | Akzhayik | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 25 | 31 | −6 | 32 | |
| 10 | Taraz | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 29 | |
| 11 | Atyrau | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 25 | 40 | −15 | 28 | |
| 12 | Turan | 26 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 22 | 40 | −18 | 26 | |
| 13 | Kaisar (R) | 26 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 24 | 44 | −20 | 19 | Relegation to the Kazakhstan First Division |
| 14 | Zhetysu (R) | 26 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 23 | 47 | −24 | 16 | Relegation to the Kazakhstan First Division |
* ↑ Zhetysu had three points deducted on 10 March 2021 as a punishment for the unavailability of their nominated reserve stadium for their second match-day fixture.

### Results
#### Games 1–26

| Home \ Away | AKT | AKZ | AST | ATY | CAS | KRT | KSR | KYZ | ORD | SHA | TAR | TOB | TUR | ZHE |
| Aktobe | | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–4 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Akzhayik | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Astana | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 6–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 4–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Atyrau | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Caspiy | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Kairat | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 5–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 2–0 |
| Kaisar | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Kyzylzhar | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Ordabasy | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 0–5 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Taraz | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| Tobol | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | | 5–0 | 2–1 |
| Turan | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–4 | | 0–2 |
| Zhetysu | 1–5 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | |

#### Results by match played

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Aktobe | D | D | W | D | W | L | L | L | L | W | D | L | L | L | W | W | D | L | W | D | L | W | W | L | W | L |
| Akzhayik | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | L | L | W | D | W | L | L | D | D | L | D | D | L |
| Astana | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | D | D | W | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | D |
| Atyrau | L | L | L | L | D | D | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | L | L | W | D | L | D | L | L | D | L | D | L |
| Caspiy | D | L | W | L | D | D | W | W | L | D | L | W | W | D | W | L | L | D | L | L | W | D | L | L | D | W |
| Kairat | W | W | D | W | D | D | L | W | D | D | L | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | L | W | D | W | W | W | D |
| Kaisar | L | L | D | W | L | D | L | L | D | L | D | L | L | L | D | W | L | D | W | L | L | D | L | L | L | W |
| Kyzylzhar | W | D | W | W | L | L | W | W | D | L | W | L | L | D | W | L | D | W | D | W | L | L | W | L | D | W |
| Ordabasy | L | W | W | D | L | W | W | L | L | D | D | D | D | D | W | L | W | W | L | W | D | D | L | W | W | L |
| Shakhter Karagandy | W | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | D | D | L | L | L | D | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | D | D | W | L | W |
| Taraz | W | D | D | W | W | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | D | D | L | L | D | L | W | D | D | L | D | W | L | L |
| Tobol | W | D | D | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W |
| Turan | D | L | D | L | L | D | L | L | W | W | W | L | W | L | D | L | D | D | L | D | D | W | D | D | L | D |
| Zhetysu | L | W | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | L | L | L | D | L | D | L | L | L | W | D |

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Tobol | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Astana | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Kairat | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Kyzylzhar | 9 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Ordabasy | 10 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Akzhayik | 13 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| Caspiy | 8 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| Aktobe | 7 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | 4 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| Atyrau | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Taraz | 3 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Turan | 6 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Kaisar | 11 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Zhetysu | 14 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
* Leader
* Europa Conference League second qualifying round
* Relegation to 2022 Kazakhstan First Division

## Statistics
### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Vitaliy Balashov for Shakhter Karagandy against Atyrau (13 March 2021)

### Top scorers

    As of matches played on 30 October 2021
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Marin Tomasov | Astana | 17 |
| 2 | Artur Shushenachev | Kairat | 12 |
| 3 | Igor Sergeev | Aktobe/Tobol | 11 |
| 4 | José Kanté | Kairat | 9 |
| 4 | João Paulo | Ordabasy/Kairat | 9 |
| 6 | Karolis Laukžemis | Kaisar | 8 |
| 6 | Nemanja Nikolić | Tobol | 8 |
| 8 | Azat Nurgaliyev | Tobol | 7 |
| 8 | Tigran Barseghyan | Astana | 7 |
| 8 | Pedro Eugénio | Taraz/Astana | 7 |
| 8 | Alibek Kasym | Kyzylzhar | 7 |
| 8 | Vágner Love | Kairat | 7 |

## Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | FC Aktobe | 39,285 | 8,200 | 1,900 | 4,365 | n/a$^†$ |
| 2 | Taraz | 30,500 | 3,500 | 1,000 | 2,346 | n/a$^†$ |
| 3 | Kairat | 26,300 | 9,500 | 900 | 4,383 | n/a$^†$ |
| 4 | FC Astana | 19,800 | 5,500 | 1,500 | 2,475 | n/a$^†$ |
| 5 | Kyzylzhar | 19,300 | 2,000 | 700 | 1,608 | n/a$^†$ |
| 6 | FC Ordabasy | 14,900 | 3,700 | 1,500 | 2,483 | n/a$^†$ |
| 7 | FC Shakhter Karagandy | 14,200 | 4,000 | 1,000 | 2,366 | n/a$^†$ |
| 8 | FC Tobol | 14,400 | 3,500 | 600 | 1,200 | n/a$^†$ |
| 9 | Turan | 14,150 | 2,000 | 600 | 1,179 | n/a$^†$ |
| 10 | FC Akzhayik | 9,560 | 2,000 | 560 | 1,365 | n/a$^†$ |
| 11 | FC Caspiy | 8,850 | 1,300 | 700 | 885 | n/a$^†$ |
| 12 | Kaisar | 8,650 | 1,500 | 950 | 1,235 | n/a$^†$ |
| 13 | Atyrau | 6,400 | 1,500 | 700 | 1,066 | n/a$^†$ |
| 14 | Zhetysu | 6,350 | 2,000 | 300 | 1,058 | n/a$^†$ |
| | League total | 232,645 | 9,500 | 300 | 1,938 | n/a$^†$ |
Source:
|u=30 October 2021|