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Utrecht will entertain Vitesse at the Stadion Galgenwaard in the first-leg of the Eredivisie Europa League play-offs semi-final on Thursday.
The hosts finished seventh in the standings in the regular season and are competing with AZ Alkmaar, Vitesse and Heerenveen for a spot in the Europa League playoffs next season.
The hosts suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of Willem II in their last game of the regular season, but the outcome of the game had no impact on their place in the league table.
Vitesse, on the other hand, played out a 2-2 draw against champions Ajax on Sunday. They qualified for the Europa Conference League last campaign and will be looking to play in the Europa League next season.
Utrecht vs Vitesse Head-to-Head
The two sides have squared off 80 times across all competitions since 1971. The visitors enjoy a 38-24 lead in wins while the spoils have been shared 18 times in this fixture.
Vitesse are undefeated in their last five meetings against Domstedelingen. They have four wins in that period, with the last game between the two sides ending in a 1-1 draw in February.
Utrecht form guide (Eredivisie): L-D-D-W-L
Vitesse form guide (Eredivisie): D-W-L-W-L
Utrecht vs Vitesse Team News
Utrecht
Bart Ramselaar and Tommy St. Jago are ruled out with knee injuries and Fabian de Keijzer became the latest casualty for the hosts after picking up a thigh injury last week.
Mark van der Maarel made an appearance from the bench against Willem II and is expected to return to the starting XI here.
Injuries: Bart Ramselaar, Tommy St. Jago, Fabian de Keijzer.
Doubtful: None.
Suspension: None.
Unavailable: None.
Vitesse
Jeroen Houwen, Maximilian Wittek and Yann Gboho are sidelined with injuries at the moment. Dominik Oroz remains unavailable as he completes his military service in Austria.
Jacob Rasmussen was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with a muscle injury earlier this month.
Injured: Jeroen Houwen, Jacob Rasmussen.
Doubtful: Maximilian Wittek, Yann Gboho.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: Dominik Oroz.
Utrecht vs Vitesse Predicted XIs
Utrecht (4-5-1): Eric Oelschlägel (GK); Djevencio van der Kust, Willem Janssen, Mike van der Hoorn, Mark van der Maarel; Adam Maher, Joris van Overeem, Simon Gustafson, Mimoun Mahi, Othman Bossaid; Anastasios Douvikas.
Vitesse (3-5-2): Markus Schubert (GK); Riechedly Bazoer, Danilho Doekhi, Enzo Cornelisse; Million Manhoef, Patrick Vroegh, Toni Domgjomi, Sondre Tronstad, Eli Dasa; Loïs Openda, Adrian Grbic
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Utrecht vs Vitesse Prediction
Utrecht have posted better attacking and defensive records than Vites this season, outscoring them 51-42, while also conceding five fewer goals. Despite that, they finished a place behind them in the standings as they failed to secure enough wins.
Given the home advantage for Utrecht, we expect them to eke out a narrow win against their eastern rivals in this first-leg fixture.
Prediction: Utrecht 2-1 Vitesse
