Preview: KuPS vs Trabzonspor - prediction, team news, lineups

KuPS welcome Trabzonspor to Finland on Thursday night for their opening fixture in the 2026-27 UEFA Conference League league phase, with the Turkish side finding themselves in Europe’s third tier competition for the first time.

The Finnish champions secured their place in the league phase by edging past Shamrock Rovers in the qualifying play-offs, while the visitors dropped into the Conference League after losing 5-0 on aggregate to Ferencvaros in Europa League qualifying.

Match preview

KuPS head into their European campaign at a difficult point in the domestic season, as Miika Nuutinen's side have struggled to maintain consistency in the Veikkausliiga, with their title defence not going as planned.

A 2-0 victory away to VPS is the only victory the Yellow-Black have recorded in their last seven league matches, but they have lost consecutive matches since then, first falling 1-0 at home to AC Oulu before suffering another 1-0 defeat away to Inter Turku three days later.

However, they will hope Europe offers some light into their currently dark path, though their route into the league phase was not straightforward.

KuPS drew 1-1 away to Shamrock Rovers in the first leg of their play-off before winning the return fixture 1-0, with the narrow aggregate victory securing their place in the competition proper, but that was after they had exited the Champions League qualifying stages in the hands of Sabah Baku and were dumped out of the Europa League qualifiers by Universitatea Craiova.

KuPS will also have to adapt to playing at Tammelan Stadion in Tampere rather than their usual home ground in Kuopio as they face Trabzonspor for the first time in their history, though they have faced Turkish opposition twice previously (W1, L1).

Trabzonspor will hope to make the most of this situation and they arrive after an impressive weekend result that saw them win two competitive matches in a row.

Thomas Reis' side beat Samsunspor 3-0 away in the league last time out, with Ernest Muci, Chibuike Nwaiwu and Franculino Dju scoring in the first half, a victory that followed a commanding 4-0 home win over Galatasaray, taking them to seven goals without conceding in their last two league matches.

The Turkish side's European season began less positively, however, having lost 1-0 at home to Ferencvaros before suffering a 4-0 defeat in Hungary, ending their Europa League qualifying campaign with a 5-0 aggregate loss.

The Conference League now gives Reis's team another opportunity to establish themselves in Europe, and they will be encouraged by their record against Finnish sides, unbeaten in their two meetings with such teams (W1, D1).

KuPS form (all competitions):

Trabzonspor form (all competitions):

Team News

KuPS have a clean bill of health heading into this clash, so Nuutinen can be quite flexible when choosing his squad.

Jaime Moreno has scored 11 goals for the hosts across all competitions so far this season, including a strike in the Europa League qualifiers, and he will be the man to watch once again.

Trabzonspor will be without Chibuike Nwaiwu and Sidny Lopes Cabral, who are suspended for the opening fixture.

Goalkeeper Onuralp Cevikkan and Ruslan Malinovskyi have been listed among the injured, while Umut Nayir is also unavailable.

Okay Yokuslu and Tim Jabol-Folcarelli have been reported as injury concerns, while Arseniy Batagov working towards a return.

All eyes will be on summer signing Mohamed Salah, who has 10 goal involvements in Trabzonspor’s last eight matches across all competitions, scoring seven and assisting three.

KuPS possible starting lineup:

Kreidl; Puuko, Magassa, Lotjonen, Antwi; Armah, Gasc, Touray, Pennanen; Jyry, Moreno Ciorciari

Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:

Onana; Pina, Savic, Akaydin, Eskihallac; Kabasakal, Fabinho; Salah, Muci, Saviolo; Franculino

We say: KuPS 0-2 Trabzonspor

KuPS will be eager to respond after consecutive domestic defeats, but their recent inability to score makes this a difficult assignment.

Meanwhile, Trabzonspor have found their rhythm in the league, scoring seven times across wins over Galatasaray and Samsunspor, and should have enough quality to create opportunities even with several players unavailable.

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