KuPS
In the first leg of the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, Finnish side KuPS will host Romania's Universitatea Craiova at Väre Areena in Kuopio, with the match starting 6 August 2026 at 16:00 BST.
As recently as last week, both clubs were playing in UEFA Champions League qualifying, but poor goalscoring sent them into the competition one level below.
KuPS' winning run in the Finnish championship can stretch to any number of matches, but it means nothing in Europe, where they cannot even score against a team who are not regular champions of Azerbaijan. Universitatea Craiova are in a similar bracket, but they are favourites even away from home.
KuPS did not score at all in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. They were playing the champions of Azerbaijan, but the opponents were not even Qarabag, who made plenty of noise last season, but only Sabah, who became national champions for the first time. In the Finnish top flight, the Kuopio side have won six in a row, three of them with clean sheets, but the previous couple of weeks showed just how big the gap is between their domestic competition and Europe's middle class. Even in the UEFA Europa League, KuPS have never reached the group stage in five attempts.
Universitatea Craiova came unstuck against Bulgaria's Levski Sofia, who went through thanks to a narrow home win. In Craiova, the Sofia side played from a position of strength: the hosts were only chasing the game after it was 0:2 by the 17th minute. Even so, two goals against a fairly solid team should give the blue-and-white fans reason for optimism. The Students gained serious European experience last season by reaching the league phase of the UEFA Conference League. There, they were just one goal short of making the knockout play-off round.
Universitatea had possession and territory even in the match they lost in Sofia. Admittedly, that was because Levski gave them space after scoring as early as the eighth minute. KuPS are unlikely to score that quickly, if they manage to score at all. The match in the Bulgarian capital was the first exception in six European qualifying matches for the Students: they failed to find the net. Just as KuPS allowed Sabah to score, the Romanians are certain to score too. Most likely, they will only manage to open the hosts up for goals after the break (that is exactly when Sabah scored), which is why the odds on Universitatea's individual over 0.5 goals are lower specifically for the second half. That is the bet to take.
Ondrej Berka (Czechia)
Matches – 5 (international matches, 2025–2026);
Average fouls per match – 23;
Average yellow cards per match (including second yellows) – 3.6;
Matches with red cards – 0 of 5;
Matches with penalties – 1 of 5.
|
Miika Nuutinen
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
Line-up
|
|||
|
Hemmo Riihimäki
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Akseli Viljami Puukko
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Bob Nii Armah
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Brahima Magassa
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Clinton Antwi
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Kasim Adams Nuhu
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Saikou Touray
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Tommi Matti Jyry
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Valentín Román Gasc
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Jaime José Moreno Ciorciari
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Joslyn Luyeye-Lutumba
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Substitutes
|
|||
|
Kasperi Silen
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Arttu Mikael Olavi Lötjönen
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Saku Heiskanen
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Taneli Armas Hämäläinen
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Arttu Heinonen
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Niilo Juhani Kujasalo
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Hope Calvin Ddamulira Kabuye
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Piotr Parzyszek
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Saku Jussi Savolainen
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Filipe Coelho
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
Line-up
|
|||
|
Iulian Laurențiu Popescu
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Adrian Rus
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Nicușor Silviu Bancu
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Nikola Stevanović
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Alexandru Cicâldău
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Anzor Mekvabishvili
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Vladimir Ionuț Screciu
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Ștefan Baiaram
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Aimé Steven Nsasa Nsimba Labe
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Carlos Andrei Mora Montoya
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Monday Bassey Etim
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Substitutes
|
|||
|
Alexandru Gabriel Maxim
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Răzvan Sava
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Oleksandr Romanchuk
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Alexandru Crețu
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
David Matei
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Luca Constantin Băsceanu
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Mihnea Gabriel Rădulescu
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Samuel Teles Pereira Nunes da Silva
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Tudor Cristian Băluță
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Assad Al Islam Al Hamlawi
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Heriberto Moreno Borges Tavares
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Simon Tom Elisor
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
KuPS
FK Sabah
FK Sabah
KuPS
KuPS
Vardar
Vardar
KuPS
Universitatea
Levski Sofia
Levski Sofia
Universitatea
Universitatea
Maxline
Maxline
Universitatea
| # | Team | Form | Matches played | W | D | L | G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Juventus
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:0 | 3 |
|
2
|
Crystal Palace
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:0 | 3 |
|
3
|
Sparta Prague
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 3 |
|
4
|
Beşiktaş JK
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 3 |
|
5
|
Saint-Gilloise
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 3 |
|
6
|
Ferencvárosi
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 3 |
|
7
|
Benfica
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
8
|
Bayer 04
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
9
|
OFI Crete
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
10
|
Bournemouth
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
11
|
Lyon
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
12
|
União Torreense
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
13
|
Olympiacos Piraeus
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
14
|
Red Bull Salzburg
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
15
|
Omonia
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
16
|
Sunderland
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
17
|
Dinamo Zagreb
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
18
|
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
19
|
Rennes
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
20
|
Sturm Graz
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
21
|
Jagiellonia
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
22
|
Anderlecht
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
23
|
Lillestrom
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
24
|
Real Sociedad
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
25
|
AZ Alkmaar
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
26
|
Celta
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
27
|
Levski Sofia
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
28
|
Celtic
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:3 | 0 |
|
29
|
NK Celje
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
30
|
Hoffenheim
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
31
|
AC Milan
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
32
|
Marseille
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:4 | 0 |
|
33
|
Ararat-Armenia
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:4 | 0 |
|
34
|
Viktoria Plzen
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:3 | 0 |
|
35
|
Lech
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:4 | 0 |
|
36
|
NEC Nijmegen
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:5 | 0 |
| # | Team | Form | Matches played | W | D | L | G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Juventus
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:0 | 3 |
|
2
|
Crystal Palace
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:0 | 3 |
|
3
|
Beşiktaş JK
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 3 |
|
4
|
Bayer 04
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
5
|
OFI Crete
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
6
|
Olympiacos Piraeus
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
7
|
Omonia
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
8
|
Sunderland
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
9
|
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
10
|
Sturm Graz
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
11
|
Sparta Prague
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
12
|
Saint-Gilloise
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
13
|
Ferencvárosi
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
14
|
Benfica
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
15
|
Bournemouth
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
16
|
Lyon
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
17
|
União Torreense
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
18
|
Red Bull Salzburg
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
19
|
Dinamo Zagreb
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
20
|
Rennes
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
21
|
Jagiellonia
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
22
|
Anderlecht
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
23
|
Lillestrom
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
24
|
Real Sociedad
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
25
|
AZ Alkmaar
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
26
|
Celta
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
27
|
Levski Sofia
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
28
|
Celtic
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:3 | 0 |
|
29
|
NK Celje
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
30
|
Hoffenheim
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
31
|
AC Milan
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
32
|
Marseille
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
33
|
Ararat-Armenia
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:4 | 0 |
|
34
|
Viktoria Plzen
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:3 | 0 |
|
35
|
Lech
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
36
|
NEC Nijmegen
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
| # | Team | Form | Matches played | W | D | L | G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Sparta Prague
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 3 |
|
2
|
Saint-Gilloise
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 3 |
|
3
|
Ferencvárosi
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 3 |
|
4
|
Benfica
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
5
|
Bournemouth
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
6
|
Lyon
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
7
|
União Torreense
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
8
|
Red Bull Salzburg
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
9
|
Dinamo Zagreb
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
10
|
Rennes
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
11
|
Juventus
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
12
|
Crystal Palace
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
13
|
Beşiktaş JK
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
14
|
Bayer 04
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
15
|
OFI Crete
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
16
|
Olympiacos Piraeus
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
17
|
Omonia
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
18
|
Sunderland
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
19
|
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
20
|
Sturm Graz
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
21
|
Jagiellonia
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
22
|
Anderlecht
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
23
|
Lillestrom
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
24
|
Real Sociedad
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
25
|
AZ Alkmaar
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
26
|
Celta
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
27
|
Levski Sofia
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
28
|
Celtic
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
29
|
NK Celje
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
30
|
Hoffenheim
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
31
|
AC Milan
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
32
|
Marseille
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:4 | 0 |
|
33
|
Ararat-Armenia
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
34
|
Viktoria Plzen
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
|
35
|
Lech
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:4 | 0 |
|
36
|
NEC Nijmegen
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:5 | 0 |
