Preview:KuPS vs FC Midtjylland - prediction, team news, lineups

Boasting a four-goal first-leg advantage, FC Midtjylland will be looking to finish the job when they travel to Finland to face KuPS at Kuopio Football Stadium in the second leg of their Europa League playoff tie on Thursday night.

While the winners of this two-legged contest will advance to the League Phase of the Europa League, the losers will drop down into the Conference League.

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Match preview

Midtjylland have put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the Europa League for the fourth time in five years after putting KuPS to the sword 4-0 on home soil in last week’s first leg.

Two goals in the opening 19 minutes from Adam Buksa - who has since joined Udinese this week - and Dario Osorio put the Danish outfit firmly in control, before Junior Brumado bagged a brace in the final 10 minutes of the second half to ensure that they have one foot in Friday’s League Phase draw.

Thomas Thomasberg’s men have impressed in Europa League qualifying this summer, as they have already beaten Hibernian 3-2 on aggregate in the first round and Fredrikstad 5-1 on aggregate in round two, scoring a combined five goals across both away legs.

Last season’s Danish Superliga runners-up have also made an unbeaten start to their domestic campaign, accumulating 12 points across their opening six games and scoring a division-high 18 goals in the process. They beat Silkeborg 4-2 at home last weekend, so they will be full of confidence heading into Thursday’s second leg.

KuPS also secured maximum points on the domestic front last weekend as they bounced back from their Europa League playoff loss last week to beat FF Jaro 3-1 on the road, courtesy of goals from Saku Savolainen, Petteri Pennanen and Agon Sadiku.

Victory represents solid preparation ahead of their Suomen Cup semi-final clash against the same opponent on September 10, while the reigning Veikkausliiga champions of Finland have also moved level on points with league leaders Inter Turku with one game of the regular season remaining.

KuPS will understandably have one eye on their top-flight title tussle, but head coach Jarkko Wiss is keen to ensure that his players are in the right frame of mind to put in an admirable display in their second-leg clash with Midtjylland in front of their own supporters.

Wiss felt that his players had “definitely learned” from their heavy first-leg loss and he has encouraged them to be “alert for the whole 90 minutes” if they are to have any chance of ‘seriously competing for victory’.

KuPS Europa League form:

W W L

KuPS form (all competitions):

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FC Midtjylland Europa League form:

D W W W W

FC Midtjylland form (all competitions):

W D W W W W

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Team News

After making four changes to his starting lineup last weekend KuPS boss Wiss will consider reverting to the same XI that began the first leg, with Taneli Hamalainen, Bob Nii Armah, Samuel Pasanen and Petteri Pennanen all pushing for a recall.

Agon Sadiku has scored seven of his 10 goals in 2025 on home soil and he will be hoping to return in attack at the expense of either Piotr Parzyszek or Mohamed Toure.

As for Midtjylland, defender Ousmane Diao has been sidelined since May with a foot problem, while teenage winger Mikel Gogorza has picked up a hamstring issue and is also set to miss out.

Following the sale of Adam Buska, Denil Castillo could be called upon to start up front with Franculino, who has scored nine goals in his last 10 games, while it remains to be seen whether new signing Philip Billing from Bournemouth will be available to make his debut.

KuPS possible starting lineup:

Kreidl; Savolainen, Cisse, Hamalainen, Armah; Oksanen, Arifi, Pasanen; Ruoppi, Sadiku, Pennanen

FC Midtjylland possible starting lineup:

Olafsson; Mbabu, Erlic, Bech Sorensen, Paulinho; Simsir, Bravo, Silva, Osorio; Castillo, Franculino

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We say: KuPS 0-2 FC Midtjylland (Midtjylland to win 6-0 on aggregate)

 

KuPS will not want a repeat of last week’s first-leg result and will hope to provide their home support with a resolute display while also posing a greater threat in the final third. However, Midtjylland should have too much quality for the Finnish side and we expect the visitors to qualify for the League Phase with ease.

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

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