Best odds: 59/100
Bookmaker:
On Thursday evening at the in Utrecht, FC Utrecht and Sparta Rotterdam will go head-to-head in the first leg of their semifinal match-up in the European competition playoffs, with the aim of booking a place in the Europa Conference League qualifications.
FC Utrecht
Utrecht finished the season in seventh place in the Eredivisie table, with their 15 wins, nine draws and 10 defeats amounting to a total of 56 points.
Michael Silberbauer s team have been on very good form recently, and they ll be hoping to use the momentum and make a rare appearance on the European football scene in 2023/24. Of their last six outings, they only lost away to Ajax and Feyenoord, both by 3-1. In the remaining four games, they beat Twente at home by 1-0, Cambuur away by 0-3, RKC Waalwijk at home by 2-0, and eventually FC Emmen at home by 3-2 in the last game of the campaign.
On the hour-mark, the score was level as Mike van der Hoorn and Anastasios Douvikas scored for Utrecht, and Ole Romeny and Mark Diemers returned the favour for Emmen. Things didn t look too good in the 63rd minute when Van der Hoorn was sent off, but Silberbauer s men still managed to find a winner 11 minutes from time, courtesy of Nick Viergever.
Team News
Van der Hoorn obviously won t be able to help his teammates, being suspended after the red card against Emmen, and his place in the team is likely to be taken by Modibo Sagnan.
Vasilios Barkas will be in goal, with Sagnan joining Viergever in heart of defence, flanked by Sean Klaiber and Mark van der Maarel. Can Bozdogan and Jens Toornstra are expected to pair up in the middle of the park, while Bart Ramselaar, Sander van de Streek and Othmane Boussaid support Douvikas in attack.
Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta, meanwhile, finished the regular season just ahead of Utrecht, in sixth place with a total of 59 points, which came from 17 victories, eight draws and nine defeats. The gap to fifth-place Twente was also five points wide at the end.
The team commanded by Maurice Steijn did very well late on as well, also winning four of their last six games. They beat Heerenven at home by 4-0, drew 3-3 away to Twente, lost 0-1 at home against PSV Eindhoven, lost 2-1 away to FC Volendam, and bounced back with a 4-1 win at home over Cambuur, and a 0-5 smashing of Groningen away.
It should, however, be said that the home side in that last game were left with 10 men on the pitch from the 24th minute, while the scoreline stood at 0-0. But then, Jonathan de Guzman, Koki Saito, Arno Verschueren, Tobias Lauritsen, and Vito van Crooij from the spot, all hit the back of the net for Sparta.
Team News
With left-back Mica Pinto and winger Younes Namli back after their recent injury problems, Steijn shouldn t have any injury concerns ahead of the trip to Utrecht.
With Nick Olij between the posts, Pinto should join Shurandy Sambo in flanking Bart Vriends and captain Adil Auassar in the centre-back roles. The midfield should consist of Verschueren, De Guzman and Joshua Kitolano. Upfront, Lauritsen should have Saito and Namli providing support from wide positions.
Conclusion
Both teams like to play attacking football, and given their excellent respective runs of form, there should be goals on both ends of the pitch.
Verdict: Both teams to score
Best odds: 59/100
Bookmaker:
