Preview: KuPS vs Universitatea Craiova - prediction, team news, lineups

KuPS welcome Universitatea Craiova to the Kuopion Keskuskentta on Thursday evening for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League qualifying round tie.

In their previous outing, Keltamusta claimed a 1-0 league victory against Gnistan, while Alb-albastrii dismantled Petrolul 4-0 at the Stadionul Ion Oblemenco.

Match preview

Despite sitting fourth in the Veikkausliiga table at the beginning of the Championship Group stage, KuPS earned 23 points from their final 10 league fixtures to retain the title in 2025 and as a result entered the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds this summer.

After losing both home and away to Azerbaijani side Sabah Baku, Miika Nuutinen’s men have once again dropped to the Europa League qualifying phase though, a stage that they have joined in five of the previous eight seasons.

As a result of claiming a 3-1 aggregate victory against Latvian outfit RFS in their most recent participation at this stage a year ago, Keltamusta met Danish giants FC Midtjylland in the decisive qualification match, but fell to a resounding 6-0 defeat and are still yet to compete in the main tournament.

However, currently sitting pretty atop the Veikkausliiga table after 18 matches with 39 points, five clear of nearest challengers Inter Turku, KuPS will be confident that this time around they are better equipped to go all the way and make European club history.

Although they have never before faced Thursday’s opposition, Nuutinen’s men will want to rectify their overall record against Romanian teams, having fallen to a 2-1 aggregate defeat when facing former top flight side Gaz Metan in 2011.

Ending their 35-year wait for a Romanian Superliga title in the 2025-26 campaign, Univ Craiova subsequently booked their place in this season’s Champions League qualification phase too.

However, after dispatching ML Vitebsk at the first hurdle, Alb-albastrii’s chances of a second ever tournament appearance were quickly dashed in the next round as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Bulgarian side Levski in the away leg before only managing a 2-2 draw at the Stadionul Ion Oblemenco.

Consequently, Filipe Coelho’s side have entered the Europa League qualifying stage for the first time since 2000 and if they were to advance past KuPS, would surpass the third round for only the fourth time in the club’s history.

Whilst they were on the receiving end of a damaging 5-1 defeat against Dinamo Bucuresti, Univ Craiova will be content with their overall start to the season though, sitting third in the Superliga table with six points from their three fixtures and beating Universitatea Cluj on penalties to lift the Supercupa Romaniei last month.

Meeting Nuutinen’s men on Thursday evening, history will be made for Alb-albastrii too as they face a Finnish side in either a competitive or friendly fixture for the first time ever.

KuPS form (all competitions):

Universitatea Craiova form:

Team News

KuPS are certain to be without 20-year-old Samuel Pasanen on Thursday as the midfielder continues to be sidelined with a knee problem, while positional partner Jerry Voutilainen has been vacant for almost a year too.

After making several changes to his starting lineup against Gnistan on Saturday, it is likely that Nuutinen this week reverts to fielding a similar side to the one that faced Sabah Baku, with Johannes Kreidl back between the sticks, Petteri Pennanen captaining the team from midfield and Jaime Jose Moreno Ciorciari leading the line.

As for the visitors, they will miss both Pavlo Isenko and Alexandru Iamandache with knee injuries, though defender Juraj Badelj will return from a suspension that he picked up in the defeat against Dinamo Bucuresti.

Following a promising start to the season, Coelho has also been without the services of Palestinian striker Assad Al Hamlawi recently, but will be confident in the ability of fellow forward Steven Nsimba, who has netted five goals in his previous seven games for Univ Craiova, including a brace against Petrolul last weekend.

KuPS possible starting lineup:

Kreidl; Puukko, Magassa, Adams, Antwi; Gasc, Pennanen, Touray; Jyry, Moreno Ciorciari, Armah

Universitatea Craiova possible starting lineup:

Popescu; Stevanovic, Rus, Screciu; Mora, Cicaldau, Mekvabishvili, Bancu; Matei, Nsimba, Baiaram

We say: KuPS 1-2 Universitatea Craiova

With both sides going well in their respective league seasons, it is difficult to tell who will be the more confident heading into Thursday's clash.

However, having come agonisingly close to progressing to the penultimate Champions League qualifying round, we believe the visitors will have the bit between their teeth this time around and are backing them to take a slender advantage back to Romania next week.

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