KuPS vs Universitatea Craiova prediction 06.08.2026 | Europa League

In the last few years, KuPS have become the best team in Finland. In the current campaign, they are again at the top of Veikkausliiga with five points more than the next team in the standings, Inter Turku. Last season, KuPS played in the group phase of a UEFA competition for the first time and now have another good chance at least to reach the Conference League.

KuPS struggled with consistency lately. They have three wins and three defeats in the last six matches across all competitions. Interestingly, all three losses came in the Champions League qualifications. In the previous round, Miika Nuutinen's team lost 3-0 on aggregate against Sabah. Last weekend, KuPS played a Veikkausliiga game and won 1-0 on the road over Gnistan. The teams were pretty even at that time, and the hosts probably deserved one point, but eventually, the visitors' better efficiency was enough for all three points.

KuPS's head coach, Miika Nuutinen, was very satisfied with a victory in the previous league round. He said, "I'm pleased that we managed to grind out the three points from this match. It certainly wasn't an easy game for us. I'm also happy that the winning goal came from a set piece – we had plenty of those today, and in this league, if you win the battle from set pieces, you're usually very close to taking all three points."

Samuel Pasanen and Jerry Voutilainen are injured and will not play on Thursday against Universitatea Craiova.

Last season, Universitatea Craiova won their first title in the Romanian league in 35 years. Like KuPS, they haven't had much success at the international level, as their only group-stage appearance was last year in the Conference League. Universitatea Craiova aimed for the Champions League, but they lost against Levski Sofia. Still, they should be good enough to play in one of the two lower-level competitions.

Universitatea Craiova have struggled lately, with three consecutive games without a victory. The negative streak ended last weekend, when they won 4-0 at home against Petrolul. The hosts completely outplayed the opponents, and their victory never came into question.

Already after a victory in the previous match, Universitatea Craiova's head coach Felipe Coelho talked about the upcoming clash against KuPS. He said, "We have already started analyzing KuPS, but our full focus on that match begins tomorrow. They are the Finnish champions and also came from the Champions League, so they are clearly a good team. They also play on an artificial pitch. We have to prepare for the match as well as possible and try to qualify."

Universitatea Craiova have some injury problems, too. They will be without Pavlo Isenko, Alexandru Iamandache, and Assad Al Hamlawi on Thursday in Kuopio.