Israel and Kosovo Square off in their opening Group I fixture of the Euro 2024 qualifiers with both teams keen to make a positive start. The Israeli have a good record at home and will be confident of claiming the upper hand over Kosovo, who are not particularly convincing on their travels.
Israel's previous international outing was a 3-2 defeat to Cyprus in a friendly back in November. They fought back from two goals down to draw level through Oscar Gloukh and Tai Baribo but conceded the winner eight minutes from time.
The defeat is a continuation of Israel’s erratic form in recent times as they have claimed two wins and suffered two defeats in their last four fixtures across all competitions. The result also highlights their poor defensive record having failed to keep a clean sheet since September 2021, a run stretching to 15 matches.
The good thing for Israel is that they generally do their best work in front of their fans and are unbeaten in their last nine home matches. Alon Hazan’s men can count a 4-2 victory over Zambia and a 2-1 win against Albania among their recent results at home.
Kosovo head into Saturday’s Group I opener unbeaten in their last three matches, although they have only claimed one win in that run. They have drawn their last two fixtures, playing out a 2-2 scoreline with Armenia before being held 1-1 by Faroe Islands.
While Kosovo will be pleased with their recent run, all three matches have been at home. Alain Giresse’s men are not particularly convincing on their travels and have lost their last two away matches.
One similarity between Kosovo and Israel is a lack of discipline at the back having failed to keep a clean sheet in their last seven matches across all competitions. They have also conceded four goals in their last two away matches.
How the bookies view it
Israel have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 10/11 by Unibet to claim the win. A victory for Kosovo is valued at 18/5 by William Hill while a draw is set at odds of 5/2 by BoyleSports.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between Israel and Kosovo.
Players to watch
Tai Baribo has impressed for Israel lately, scoring three goals in his last four international appearances. The attacker could be worth keeping an eye on to maintain that run at 2/1 with bet365.
Vedat Muriqi often carries the attacking threat threat for Kosovo and has five goals in his last four matches for the national team. Bet365 has the striker at odds of 21/10 to score anytime on Saturday.
Anything else catch the eye?
With both teams boasting attacking quality while not being particularly convincing at the back, goals can be expected here. Israel have seen over 3.5 goals in their last two matches and a repeat is priced at 10/3 with BetVictor with over 2.5 goals valued at 6/5 by BetVictor while Coral is offering odds of 21/20 on both teams to score.
There have been more goals after the break in Israel’s last three home matches and Saturday’s clash could be tipped to follow a similar pattern at 6/5 with Paddy Power.
This Euro 2024 match between Israel and Kosovo will be played on Mar 25, 2023 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Israel vs Kosovo prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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