Preview: FC Utrecht vs Zrinjski Mostar - prediction, team news, lineups

With one leg already in the Europa League league phase, FC Utrecht will aim to finish the job as they welcome Zrinjski Mostar to Stadion Galgenwaard on Thursday.

The Dutch side carry a two-goal advantage into this contest after claiming a 2-0 victory in the opening fixture in Bosnia and Herzegovina last week.

Match preview

Back on the continental stage after five years, Utrecht appear to have buried some old ghosts, now holding the upper hand against the very side that derailed their Europa League push in the 2019-20 qualifiers.

Despite seeing only 45% of the ball, the Eredivisie outfit outclassed Zrinjski in every other attacking metric last Thursday, registering eight shots on target, two more than their opponents, with goals in either half from David Min and Victor Jensen sealing the win for the Cupfighters.

That performance was swiftly followed by an emphatic 4-1 triumph over Excelsior in the league at the weekend, underlining Utrecht’s explosive form, with seven wins from their opening eight matches across all competitions this season.

Ruthless going forward, Ron Jans’s men have plundered 23 goals in that stretch while conceding just seven, with their only stumble being a 2-1 league defeat against Sparta Rotterdam, so they are expected to go full throttle on Thursday in pursuit of a first European group-stage appearance in 15 years.

In contrast, Zrinjski’s continental path has been less smooth, dropping into the Europa League after a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Slovan Bratislava in the UCL, before edging past Breidablik in the third qualifying round of Europe’s second tier.

The Nobles, who have never reached the UEL proper, now risk bowing out at this stage for a second successive campaign, having fallen to LASK Linz in the 2023-24 playoffs.

Their current form offers little encouragement either, with last week’s defeat compounded by a 2-0 loss to Zeljeznicar in the Bosnian top flight, leaving Igor Stimac’s side without a goal in three straight matches and suffering back-to-back defeats.

Even if history is anything to go by, their 2019-20 success over Utrecht came only after extra time at home following a draw in the Netherlands, which is hardly encouraging for a side now needing to overturn a two-goal deficit away from their own turf.

FC Utrecht Europa League form:

FC Utrecht form (all competitions):

Zrinjski Mostar Europa League form:

Zrinjski Mostar form (all competitions):

Team News

Jans rotated his defence between the first leg and the weekend league fixture, with only Mike van der Hoorn retaining his place, but Siebe Horemans is expected to return alongside him at the heart of the backline on Thursday.

Both Min and Jensen found the net again on Sunday, with the latter bagging a brace, and the pair will once more provide the main attacking spark, with the former leading the line.

Dani de Wit remains sidelined until mid-September with a leg issue, while Rafik El Arguioui and Zidane Iqbal face late fitness tests.

For the visitors, Petar Mamic is suspended after his stoppage-time dismissal in the first leg, meaning 19-year-old Ante Susak is likely to step in at left-back.

Zrinjski will turn to Nemanja Bilbija in the hope that their talismanic striker can rediscover his scoring touch, having netted six times already in continental competition this season across both the Champions League and Europa League.

FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:

Barkas; El Karouani, Horemans, Van der Hoorn, Viergever; Engwanda, Jensen; Rodrigues, Zechiel, Blake; Min

Zrinjski Mostar possible starting lineup:

Karacic; Memija, Jakovljevic, Barisic, Susak; Savic, Ivancic; Pranjic, Kis, Mikic; Bilbija

We say: FC Utrecht 3-0 Zrinjski Mostar

Utrecht enter as clear favourites, and, given their scintillating attacking form, it is hard to see an out-of-sorts Zrinjski leaving Stadion Galgenwaard with anything other than defeat, so a comfortable home win looks the most likely outcome.

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