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Steffen Schmidt - July 18, 2023
Gjilani vs Progres Niederkorn
UEFA Conference League Qualification
Date: 20 July 2023, Thursday
Kick-off at 19:00 UK / 20:00 CET
Venue: Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri (Prishtina).
Progres Niederkorn returned to European football after a three-year break by winning the second place in the last term of Luxembourg’s National Division.
They marked the return with a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League first qualifying round on the home patch against Kosovo’s Gjilani.
One of the team’s best players Maynor De Almeida starred with a goal and an assist for Progres on the occasion but the team’s back line made terrible mistakes to concede two penalties as Jeff Strasser’s troops had to settle for a draw at the end.
Niederkorn’s back line also revealed holes in their latest friendly against Belgian side RFC Seraing, conceding two goals in a 3-2 victory earlier this month.
They’ll face hard times to keep things quiet at the back on Thursday night in the reverse outing at sold-out Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri where Gjilani will be hoping to secure a historical achievement by advancing from the first qualifying round of any European competition for the first time ever.
The third-placed team of the last season of Kosovo’s Superliga were eliminated by Latvian Liepaja last year at the start of the Conference League qualifications despite winning the home tie 1-0 on the occasion.
Progres Niederkorn have big issues with the lack of defensive meticulousness and we believe Gjilani have what it takes to exploit the rivals’ defensive holes and grab a historical result on Thursday evening.
The home win is our main betting pick at the 2.10 odds while you can get the same price for backing Gjilani to score two or more goals on Thursday.
