Kosovo return to UEFA Nations League action on Monday evening at Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri, entertaining Lithuania in the final matchday of Group C2.
The hosts walked off the pitch in Friday's clash with Romania due to alleged pro-Serbia chants from the home crowd, leading to the match being abandoned in stoppage time with the score tied at 0-0.
Match preview
© Imago
Friday was not the first time that Kosovo have halted play against the Romanians, as in September 2023, a Euro 2024 qualifier was disrupted in similar circumstances - though play eventually resumed.
The consequences of Dardanet's refusal to finish the match have yet to be determined - with the matter now in UEFA's hands, a possible punishment could be to award Romania a 3-0 win.
Should that be the case, Romania would be guaranteed the top spot in Group C2 and automatic promotion to League B, where Kosovo would aim to reach via a promotion playoff.
After opening the group stage with a 3-0 loss at home to the Romanians, the hosts rebounded by thrashing Cyprus twice and edging Lithuania in Kaunas, scoring nine and conceding just once in those three fixtures.
Kosovo were on course to keep another clean sheet on Friday night before the chaos ensued - the visitors were the better side in Bucharest, creating 17 chances in the game while limiting their hosts to just four.
Despite the bitter ending to Friday's match, Kosovo manager Franco Foda has guided his team to four wins out of seven completed matches since taking charge in February 2024.
The former Austria boss has a chance to take Kosovo to League B for the first time in their history, which would be an impressive feat for a team that started their Nations League journey in League D back in 2018.
On the other hand, Lithuania's year has progressively got worse as it has gone on - the last time they won was in the semi-finals of the Baltic Cup back in June, when a 2-0 win over Latvia helped them secure a fifth consecutive clean sheet in 2024.
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Since their win over Latvia, they have lost six games in a row and conceded 10 times, with five of the defeats coming in the Nations League.
Their most recent loss came on Friday when Cyprus sealed a 2-1 win against Trispalves in Larnaca - Marinos Tzionis netted the decisive goal in the second half, as the hosts guaranteed their safety in League C for another year.
Gvidas Gineitis scored his first international goal in that defeat, and in doing so the 20-year-old became the youngest player to score for his country in a decade, plus the second-youngest player to score in a competitive match for Lithuania.
The result in Cyprus means that the visitors will finish bottom of the group regardless of the outcome on Monday, although they could still qualify for a relegation playoff against one of the runners-up from Group D.
For that to happen, they would need to get all three points from Monday's match against Kosovo, before relying on Northern Ireland to do them a favour in their Group C3 clash against Luxembourg.
The visitors have been in Group C of the Nations League since it first began six years ago, but unless results go their way on Monday, they will be playing in Group D next term.
Having already come through a relegation playoff against Gibraltar earlier in the year to remain in Group C, they have a history of staying up in difficult circumstances and will undoubtedly keep fighting until it is mathematically impossible to stay up.
Team News
© Imago
Kosovo are without Leart Paqarada, who is expected to be out until December with a groin injury, while Milot Rashica, Ermal Krasniqi and Bersant Celina also remain sidelined with injuries.
However, the hosts were handed a boost last time out, when their record goalscorer Vedat Muriqi returned from injury against Romania, having missed the international break in October due to injury.
Another player to return to the Kosovo side recently is midfielder Muharrem Jashari, who has appeared in the last three Nations League games, having previously not featured for his country in two years.
Meanwhile, the visitors have no fresh injury worries ahead of the match - their biggest goal threat is Armandas Kucys, who has netted half of Lithuania's four goals in the competition so far.
Ginietis, Lithuania's goalscorer in their defeat to Cyprus, is expected to start in midfield once again for his country - the Torino youngster is regarded as one of the brightest prospects in Lithuanian football at present.
Elsewhere, captain Fedor Cernych is just four appearances away from winning his 100th cap for his country, although he has played a limited role recently, coming on as a sub in each of his last three international matches.
Kosovo possible starting lineup:
Muric; Vojvoda, Dellova, Am Rrahmani, Hadergjonaj; Jashari, V Berisha, Rexhbecaj, Muslija, Zhegrova; Muriqi
Lithuania possible starting lineup:
Bertasius; Tutyskinas, Girdvainis, Kazukolovas, Sirvys; Lasickas, Gineitis, Vorobjovas, Golubickas, Dolznikov; Paulauskas
We say: Kosovo 2-0 Lithuania
Kosovo have created plenty of chances throughout their Nations League campaign, so they should have enough goals in them to see off the Lithuanians here.
The visitors have had a difficult time in the group and we expect it to be more of the same against a talented Kosovo team.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
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