Preview: FC Utrecht vs Genk - prediction, team news, lineups

Still awaiting a first victory of what has been a disastrous Europa League campaign to date, FC Utrecht welcome Genk to Stadion Galgenwaard in the penultimate round of league-phase matches.

While the hosts are all but out of contention for a place in the knockout rounds, the visitors are still vying for a guaranteed spot in the last 16, with only three points separating them from FC Porto in eighth.

Match preview

After finishing fourth in Eredivisie last season, Utrecht earned themselves a return to European football for the first time since 2010-11, but their journey so far has been nothing to write home about.

Ron Jans's men needed four attempts to pick up their first point in the Europa League group phase against Porto and have since been beaten by Real Betis and Nottingham Forest to leave them with one point from a possible 15.

One of six teams still awaiting a first victory in Europe's second-ranked competition, De Domstedelingen are 32nd in the league standings, a whopping six points behind 24th place, which would earn a spot in the knockout playoffs.

While a win in their upcoming encounter against Genk would hardly have any ramifications for Utrecht, they will be keen to end a 17-game winless run in the group stages of UEFA tournaments, the longest by any Dutch side in history.

Utrecht's continental woes have been in keeping with an underwhelming domestic campaign so far, as Thursday's hosts sit 10th in the Eredivisie table and have also won just one of their last 10 matches across all competitions.

Since going six games without defeat in front of their fans between September 28 and December 7, Utrecht have struggled on home turf, losing three straight outings by a 2-1 scoreline.

After two warm-up matches against DVTK and Puskas Academy, Genk were in league action for the first time this year on Saturday but suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Zulte Waregem at Elindus Arena.

Nicky Hayen’s men took the lead with 16 minutes left through Aaron Bibout, before conceding twice within 10 minutes—first to Marley Ake and then to Wilguens Paugain—resulting in their winless streak in competitive matches extending to seven.

That run includes a 1-0 defeat against Midtjylland in Genk's most recent Europa League game, which marked their first continental loss in four matches and left them 16th in the standings.

De Smurfen have not reached a European knockout phase since 2019 but remain on course to end that drought, especially if they secure maximum points from their last two games.

Thursday's trip to Utrecht pits the visitors against the hosts for only the second time ever, following a 1-0 friendly victory for Genk back in 2022.

FC Utrecht Europa League form:

FC Utrecht form (all competitions):

Genk Europa League form:

Genk form (all competitions):

Team News

Gjivai Zechiel received his fifth yellow card of the group stages against Nottingham Forest and will serve a one-game suspension as a result.

David Min (ankle) and Emirhan Demircan (illness) are also unavailable for the hosts, while Victor Jensen is a huge doubt, having come off 10 minutes after his consolation strike against Volendam.

Long-term absentee Kolbeinn Finnsson has not featured since May as he steps up his recovery from a knee problem, and Thursday's game is sure to come too soon for the Icelandic international.

Noah Adedeji-Sternberg will not play any part for Genk here due to a muscle injury that has seen him miss each of Genk's last seven matches since a 3-1 defeat to Anderlecht.

With three goals so far, 24-year-old Hyun-gyu Oh leads the way for his side in the Europa League and will be looking to add to his tally.

FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:

Barkas; Horemans, Didden, Viergever, El Karouani; Rodriguez, Engwanda, Bozdogan, Cathline, De Wit; Haller

Genk possible starting lineup:

Lawal; Medina, Smets, Sadick, Ouahdi; Sattlberger, Heynen; Sor, Heymans, Karetsas; Oh

We say: FC Utrecht 0-1 Genk

Only Maccabi Tel Aviv (two) have scored fewer goals in the Europa League than Utrecht's three, and we can see the hosts drawing another blank on continental duty.

We are also tipping Genk to scrape a narrow win to boost their chances of reaching the round of 16.

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