Kosovan side SC Gjilani welcome Cypriot club APOEL FC to the Pristina City Stadium on Thursday in the first qualifying round for the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League.
Gjilani beat San Marino outfit Tre Penne in the preliminary round, while APOEL were entered directly into the qualifying stages.
The Falcons finished second in the Kosovan top flight last term – one point ahead of third-place Ballkani and level with champions Drita on 68 points.
Remarkably, Gjilani and Drita shared the same goal difference (+34), but Drita snatched the title thanks to their superior head-to-head record.
Gjilani’s last defeat came all the way back in March. Since then, Gentian Mezani’s side have gone unbeaten in their previous 12 outings in all competitions – winning nine and drawing three.
During that period, Gjilani have scored over 1.5 goals on ten occasions. They have also kept six clean sheets along the way.
Meanwhile, APOEL booked their spot in the Europa League qualifiers after finishing third in the Cypriot top flight last season.
APOEL won seven straight top-flight titles in Cyprus between 2013 and 2019 but ended up finishing four points behind champions Omonia last term.
The Cyprus outfit have qualified for the Champions League group stages four times previously, most recently in 2017/18. However, they will have to settle for a place in Europe’s secondary club competition this time around.
APOEL’s 2020/21 domestic campaign didn’t get off to the best of starts, as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Karmiotissa last week.
Ben Sahar gave APOEL the lead before Rafael Santos made it 2-1, but APOEL threw away their lead on two occasions to eventually seal a draw.
Head-to-head: This is the first competitive meeting between Gjilani and APOEL, so there are no previous results in this fixture to consider.
Team news: Gjilani have a fully fit squad heading into this clash. Gerhard Progni is their man to watch after finishing as the club’s top scorer last season.
APOEL could be without Vujadin Savic after the centre-back returned a positive COVID-19 test. He missed the opening game of the season, so it’s unclear whether or not he will feature on Thursday.
Gjilani come into this game on a 12-game unbeaten run, but APOEL’s previous European experience is likely to get the away side the edge.
Η UEFA ενημέρωσε επίσημα ότι ο αγώνας Gjilani-ΑΠΟΕΛ θα διεξαχθεί στις 27/08 στο Κόσοβο. Η αναμέτρηση θα ξεκινήσει στις 20:00 ώρα Κύπρου. pic.twitter.com/OkPPcNI2eU— apoelfcofficial (@apoelfcofficial) August 24, 2020
Η UEFA ενημέρωσε επίσημα ότι ο αγώνας Gjilani-ΑΠΟΕΛ θα διεξαχθεί στις 27/08 στο Κόσοβο. Η αναμέτρηση θα ξεκινήσει στις 20:00 ώρα Κύπρου. pic.twitter.com/OkPPcNI2eU
Forebet predicts that APOEL will edge Gjilani, with a single goal expected to be the difference between the two teams.