Kosovo vs Malta Predictions

It has been a good 2018 for the Kosovan national team, as they remain unbeaten this year coming into these Nations League fixtures.

The team beat Madagascar, Burkina Faso, and Albania all without conceding, scoring six goals in the process. The Albanian result was the most impressive, as the team won 3-0 away from home against their neighbours, with attacker Aber Zeneli getting two of the goals during the game.

Furthermore, they had a decent start to the Nations League in September. Although Kosovo were dominated for most of the match, they managed to hold Azerbaijan to a goalless draw away from home. That can certainly be seen as a point gained, given it was probably their toughest match of the group. In their second match, Kosovo saw off the Faroe Islands in a comfortable 2-0 victory, with Zeneli getting another goal, along with Sheffield Wednesday striker Atdhe Nuhui securing the win for his country.

It sets them in great stead for the next round of fixtures and shows the potential of the country. A growing number of its players are entering into prestigious European leagues, like Nuhui and Zeneli, who play for Dutch side Heerenveen , whilst midfielder Valon Berisha plays for Italian side Lazio. Thus, there is a lot more to come from Kosovo in the coming years.

In contrast, Malta haven’t won yet in 2018 and have suffered some damaging defeats. Fellow minnows Luxembourg beat them at home 1-0 in a friendly, whilst they were thrashed 5-0 by Finland in their next match. A respectable 1-1 draw away at Armenia was a positive development, yet they were beaten by Georgia on the road in the subsequent game, although only by a single goal.

Their Nations League performances also produced no wins. They were well beaten in their first game away against the Faroe Islands, losing 3-1 in what turned out to be a comfortable win for the hosts. Malta had chances in the game though but were wasteful in their finishing, where the Faroe Islands weren’t. Former Coventry striker Michael Mifsud, now a veteran at 37 years old, got the goal for Malta to reduce the deficit.

Their second game was a decent home point with Azerbaijan, drawing the match 1-1 after being dominated by the visitors for most of the match. Despite this, it seems Malta are fundamentally lacking in quality and do not have much hope of making it out of the group, or even staying in it.

This is why we believe Kosovo will win this match. Malta will make it difficult, however, as they did against Azerbaijan, so backing Kosovo to Win and Under 2.5 Goals is a smart bet to make in what could be a tense match. In terms of a correct score, we think 2-0 Kosovo is appropriate, with the home side having that bit extra quality to light up what could be a dull match.