Will the Dutch team’s dry spell continue?

For the first time since 2010/11, FC Utrecht has qualified for the main round of a European competition. Back then, they competed in the Europa League group stage and were eliminated early with five draws and one defeat. This means that the Red and Whites have now gone eleven international competitive games without a win (five draws, six defeats), if you exclude the results from the qualifying rounds. In view of this record, there is not really much to suggest that Utrecht will win at home against Lyon, especially as the French representatives are a team that has always performed well in this competition, particularly in the first half of the season.

Les Gones have lost just two of their 32 games in the group and league stages of the UEFA Europa League (20 wins, ten draws). With a win rate of 62.5 percent, they are the fifth-best team overall in the competition, which was introduced in 2009, to have played at least 30 preliminary round games. Their record against Dutch teams is also good, having won three of four Europa League games (one defeat). The south-eastern French side scored 15 goals in those games, which is why we think the best value is in the combined bet on double chance X2 with over 1.5 goals.

At the national level, however, only the visitors from France are doing really well. While OL are third in Ligue 1 with 12 out of a possible 15 points, FC Utrecht have fallen to eighth place in the Eredivisie following two 0-1 defeats against Groningen and Fortuna Sittard after the international break. The Red and Whites have lost half of their six league games so far in 2025/26.

Accordingly, more risk-taking bettors could also consider a direct bet on an away win for the south-eastern French side. Bet 2 can be placed on Utrecht against Lyon at odds of 2.12 via the useful Betano app.

Utrecht – Lyon Head-to-head record

Head to head: 0 – 0 – 0

There has not yet been an international competitive match between the two teams, who are now meeting for the first time in the opening game of the Europa League group stage. There is therefore no head-to-head data available that could influence our prediction for Utrecht vs. Lyon.

Meanwhile, it is interesting to look at the statistics for both teams against clubs from the opponent’s country. Utrecht has only ever faced AJ Auxerre once, in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup, losing 4-0 on aggregate, while Olympique Lyon has won three of its four Europa League games against Dutch teams (with one defeat). Les Gones scored an impressive 15 goals in those games.

Utrecht – Lyon Tip

There is not much to suggest that FC Utrecht will be able to shake off their 11-game winless streak (five draws, six defeats) in their comeback to the main round of a European competition. After all, the Red and Whites are hosting a strong opponent who has lost only two of 32 games in the group and league stages of the Europa League since the competition was founded in the 2009/10 season (20 wins, ten draws). Les Gones have also won three of their four Europa League games against Dutch clubs (one defeat), scoring 15 goals in the process.

Potentially, there could well be plenty of goals at the Galgenwaard Stadium. A very sensible approach is therefore to combine the double chance X2 tip with a bet on over 1.5 goals, for which Interwetten is offering odds of 1.57 for Utrecht vs. Lyon. We are investing six out of ten units in this bet.