Preview: Dynamo Kiev vs Universitatea Cluj - prediction, team news, lineups

Lublin Arena in Poland will stage the first leg of a Europa League first-round qualifier between Dynamo Kiev and FC Universitatea Cluj on Thursday night.

The victors of this two-legged contest will come up against PAOKin the second qualifying round at the end of this month.

Match preview

Dynamo Kiev are the most successful team in Ukrainian football with 17 top-flight titles, but they had to settle for a fourth-placed finish last season, with champions Shakhtar Donetsk finishing 15 points above them at the summit.

The Blue and Whites have been regular competitors in European competition, featuring in 19 different Champions League campaigns and 11 in the Europa League. However, they lost in the playoff round of the latter competition to Maccabi Tel Aviv last season.

Ihor Kostyuk’s side subsequently dropped into down into the Conference league where they won two and lost four of their six League Phase matches, failing to progress to the knockout rounds.

Dynamo Kiev did, however, win the Ukrainian Cup last season and they have since taken part in five friendly fixtures this summer, winning three, drawing one and losing one. A 3-1 defeat to Rapid Bucuresti was followed by a 2-0 victory over LASK Linz last Friday.

Universitatea Cluj, meanwhile, failed to win any of their three friendlies over the last fortnight, with a 0-0 draw with Ujpest followed by back-to-back 3-0 defeats to Vojvodina Novi Sad and Nyiregyhaza Spartacus.

The Romanian side narrowly missed out on their first top-flight title last season, as they finished second in the table and only four points behind champions Universitatea Craiova, who also beat them in the Romanian Cup final on penalties.

Cristiano Bergodi has been in charge since October 2025 and he is leading his team into their first-ever Europa League qualification campaign. Universitatea Cluj reached the second qualifying round of the Conference League last season, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Ararat-Armenia.

Universitatea Cluj have previously competed in the 1972-73 UEFA Cup, while the reached the last 16 in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1965-66 after winning the Romanian Cup in the previous season – their only major honour.

Dynamo Kiev form (all competitions):

Universitatea Cluj form (all competitions):

Team News

Dynamo Kiev’s Vladyslav Zakharchenko, Mykola Mykhaylenko, Reshat Ramadani, Roman Salenko and Vladyslav Kabaev are all set to miss Thursday’s game due to injury.

Goalkeeper Ilya Olkhovyi, right-back Tomasz Kedziora and forward Pierre Mounguengue have all signed for Dynamo Kiev this summer, the latter joining from PSG on a free transfer, and the trio are available for selection.

Nineteen-year-old Matviy Ponomarenko scored a team-high 16 goals last season and is expected to start in attack, potentially alongside 36-year-old winger Andriy Yarmolenko who finished with 12 goals in the 2025-26 season.

As for Universitatea Cluj, Alin Chintes is nursing an unspecified injury, but the rest of Bergodi’s squad, including eight new signings, should be ready to go for Thursday.

Centre-back Andrei Coubis has joined from Sampdoria on a permanent basis after a successful loan spell last season, and he could be handed a start in the heart of the defence alongside Iulian Cristea.

Pedro Pinho, Alibek Aliev, Friday Adams and Marius Stefanescu are all new recruits who could feature in some capacity, while striker Jovo Lukic - last season’s top scorer with 20 goals in 39 games - is set to lead the line.

Dynamo Kiev possible starting lineup:

Olkhovyi; Kedziora, Popov, Mykhavko, Dubinchak; Pikhalyonok, Brazhko, Shaparenko; Yarmolenko, Ponomarenko, Voloshyn

Universitatea Cluj possible starting lineup:

Lefter; Mikanovic, Cristea, Coubis, Silva; Drammeh, Simion; Macalou, Bic, Gheorghita; Lukic

We say: Dynamo Kiev 2-1 Universitatea Cluj

Dynamo Kiev will back themselves to make the net ripple on Thursday, as they have scored in each of their last nine competitive and non-competitive matches, netting 10 goals across their five friendly fixtures.

Universitatea Cluj certainly have the credentials to cause problems for Dynamo Kiev, but we are backing the Ukrainian side to gain a slender first-leg advantage.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.