North Macedonia v Kosovo
KOSOVO Three Reasons to be Cheerful
1 Confidence in the camp is sky high after they comfortably topped their Nations League pool and finished a respectable third in their Euro qualifying group. In the last year they have claimed the scalps of Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Montenegro.
2 The calmness under pressure, tactical know-how and peopleperson skills of the team’s Swiss coach Bernard Challandes. He is so popular that he was recently voted Kosovo’s Personality of the Year.
3 Rising star striker Milot Rashica. Thanks to the 23-year-old’s great work with the national team and Werder Bremen he has been heavily linked with Borussia Dortmund as well as a gaggle of Premier League sides.
Three Fear Factors
1 They are a young squad, with an average age of under 25, and as such are not always as focused and grounded as they should be. They can be their own worst enemies with their impulsiveness. 2 Torino keeper Samir Ujkani and on-loan Verona centre-back Amir Rrahmani are key but they will be short of match practice as a result of Italy’s coronavirus-inspired suspension. 3 Challandes has to decide whether left-winger Arber Zeneli is sufficiently match sharp as he has only just returned to the fray with Reims after rupturing cruciate ligaments last June.
NORTH MACEDONIA Three Reasons to be Cheerful
1 They have two class acts in evergreen 36-year-old Genoa second striker Goran Pandev and, at the other end of the spectrum, 20-year-old Napoli midfielder Eljif Elmas. Together, the pair give the Macedonians that all-important extra dimension.
2 Being backed by a sell-out crowd in Skopje should be a big advantage. Excitement has been building for months, driven by the dream of qualifying for a first major tournament.
3 The excellent form of veteran front-runner Ivan Trichkovski, who has been scoring from all angles this season for his Cypriot club AEK Larnaca. Vitally, he can play on the wing or through the middle.
Three Fear Factors
1 With a lack of depth at full-back and in the midfield-enforcer department, they can be a little naive defensively. 2 Besides Pandev and Elmas, there are a number of other Italian-based players who may be somewhat rusty due to Serie A being shutdown over coronavirus. Udinese winger Ilija Nestorovski is one of those who comes into this category. 3 First-choice left-back Ezgjan Alioski is out of favour at Leeds United, while right-back Stefan Ristovski has fallen out with Ruben Amorim, his new coach at Sporting in Lisbon.