Preview: FC Utrecht vs. Willem II - prediction, team news, lineups

Separated by three places in the Eredivisie table, FC Utrecht welcome bottom-placed Willem II to Stadion Galgenwaard for Sunday's eighth round.

The hosts have not enjoyed the smoothest transition under Anthony Correia — who succeeded the retired Ron Jans in the summer — with a 5-0 hammering at Feyenoord before the international break representing another heavy defeat for the former Telstar boss in the opening rounds.

Match preview

A week after ending their wait for maximum points under Correia, Utrecht travelled to De Kuip to face one of the early-season high-flyers, albeit one yet to record a home victory at the time.

However, the Rotterdam outfit blew De Domstedelingen away in a 5-0 rout, inflicting another heavy defeat on the new boss following 4-1 and 6-1 losses to AZ Alkmaar and PSV Eindhoven in the opening weeks of the 2026-27 season.

Not helped by a challenging set of fixtures at the start of the season, the Cupfighters' early results mean that they have conceded the most goals in the Dutch top flight (24), although scoring 11 — more than every bottom-half side except NEC Nijmegen (12) — has prevented their goal difference from becoming even worse.

Nonetheless, three weeks is a long time in football, and most supporters at Stadion Galgenwaard will hope to see a response this weekend at the expense of winless Willem II.

They should remain optimistic despite sitting just outside the bottom three, one place above the relegation playoff spot, as the Cathedral Citizens hold the historical advantage in this fixture.

Seven of the last 10 meetings have ended in defeat for Willem II, whose two victories during that period came in January 2019 and May 2022.

That precedent offers little encouragement to the top-flight returnees, whose form before the pause left them bottom with two points, two adrift of the relegation playoff spot and three from safety.

While they have conceded four fewer goals than the side they visit, the Superkruiken's tally of six — with only Telstar scoring fewer — undermines their chances of securing enough draws, especially if they remain vulnerable at the back.

As such, it will be interesting to see how John Stegeman finds solutions to improve Willem II's attacking patterns and help them create more opportunities in dangerous areas.

Fortunately, plenty of the season remains, and they will hope to discover the form required to avoid immediate relegation from the top flight.

FC Utrecht Eredivisie form:

Willem II Eredivisie form:

Team News

Artem Stepanov is the joint-leading Eredivisie goalscorer alongside Gjivai Zechiel, Soren Tengstedt and Anis Hadj Moussa with five goals, but an ankle injury could keep him out this weekend.

Apart from the doubtful joint-top scorer, injury-hit Utrecht are likely to be without Noah Ohio (knee), Alonzo Engwanda (hamstring), Kevin Paredes (knee), Miliano Jonathans (ACL) and Victor Jensen (knee) for gameweek eight.

If Stepanov misses out, Adrian Blake and Dani De Wit, both of whom have scored twice, must step up and provide the decisive contributions for the Cathedral Citizens.

The bottom-placed visitors will rely on Devin Haen to add to his three Eredivisie goals and give them a chance of leaving Stadion Galgenwaard with a positive result.

Like their hosts, Willem II are also dealing with several injury concerns: Thomas Didillon-Hodl (hamstring), Justin Hoogma (knee), Amine Lachkar (groin) and Armin Culum (foot) are absent, while Kasper Boogaard's ankle problem will be assessed before the encounter.

FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:

Barkas; Horemans, Didden, Panagiotou; Vesterlund, Van Overeem, Broholm, Zagre; Alarcon, De Wit, Blake

Willem II possible starting lineup:

Delanghe; Ter Avest, Stam, Dekker, Tjoe-A-On; Twigt, Vilhena; Gurbuz, Van Aalst, Slory; Haen

We say: FC Utrecht 2-1 Willem II

Utrecht's defensive record makes it difficult to back them for a clean sheet, but their attacking output provides encouragement against the division's bottom side.

Even if Stepanov misses out, the hosts should possess enough quality through Blake and De Wit to respond positively to their humiliation at Feyenoord.

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