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Aron Wright - November 17, 2018
FYR Macedonia vs Gibraltar
UEFA Nations League
Date: Monday, 19 November 2018
Kick-Off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: Telekom Arena (Skopje).
FYR Macedonia were marching towards the top spot in the Group 4 with three straight wins at the start of the campaign. However, they fell badly in the second of October’s fixtures, losing 4-0 to Latvia on the road. The Red Lynxes still entered November’s final pair of outings as pace-setters with a three-point cushion on the likes of Armenia and Gibraltar, but they need to confirm the top spot with a victory over Team 54 on Monday evening at Telekom Arena in Skopje.
It should not be the toughest of tasks for Macedonians even though Gibraltar shockingly notched back-to-back wins over Armenia and Liechtenstein a month ago. The team led by the Uruguayan manager Julio Cesar Ribas thus joined the battle for the semi-final in spite of losing opening two fixtures to FYR Macedonia and Liechtenstein.
This will only be the second head to head encounter between the two teams.
The Red Lynxes claimed a comprehensive 0-2 victory in the opening round in September.
Ivan Trichkovski and Egzjan Alioski notched first-half goals to open up the way for a comfortable win for Macedonians at Victoria Stadium.
The gulf in quality between the two sides is notable and we see the match as a perfect occasion for Macedonians to celebrate their promotion to League C football next term. Additionally, Igor Angelovski’s men would advance into semi-final by topping the group, meaning they would be only two games away from securing a place at a major tournament (EURO) for the first time in history.
With this at stake, we do not doubt the hosts will be highly motivated to clinch a comprehensive victory. They will have their main stars Goran Pandev, Ivan Trichkovski, Ilija Nestorovski and Enis Bardhi all available.
We expect a one-way street from the very get go and we’ll back Macedonians to have a two-goal lead at the half time to get the max value from this affair.
