Two teams that are unlikely to make it far in Europe this season, Drita and Differdange, will battle for a spot in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers, with the first leg in Pristina scheduled for Tuesday.
Last season Drita won their fourth title in the independent league of Kosovo, finishing 11 points clear of the previous three-time-in-a-row champions Ballkani. This was an impressive feat for a team from Gjilan, who will once again try to reach a group stage in Europe for the first time in club's history.
To their credit, they were very close last season, reaching the final round of the Conference League qualifiers, where they were eventually eliminated by Legia Warsaw 3-0 on aggregate.
Their opponents, Differdange 03, is in the same boat since they also never reached the group stages in Europe, at least not since their official founding date in 2003, when Red Boys Differdange and AC Differdange merged to form the latest champions of Luxembourg.
Differdange were quite convincing last season in their domestic championship, finishing the season with an advantage of 18 points compared to the next team in the standings. This was the second title in a row for them and also only the second title since the merger.
How the bookies view it: Drita favoured to get the win
The odds on Drita to win this game are 4/5 at BoyleSports, so the bookies are giving them the edge at home. With that in mind, it's important to note that Drita will play their European matches in Pristina instead of their home town Gjilan
Meanwhile, BoyleSports offers 16/5 odds on Differdange to win the game and 2/1 odds on a draw.
Recent head-to-head: First meeting on Tuesday
These two teams have never met before and this will also be the first time for Differdange to meet with a team from Kosovo.
However, Drita played against another Luxembourg team before, when they met with Dudelange in the 2018/19 Europa League qualifiers and lost 3-2 on aggregate.
Players to watch: Andreas Buch hoping to continue his pre-season form
After returning to Differdange at the start of last year, Andreas Buch didn't have the best of time and wasn't able to replicate his goalscoaring record from seasons before he left the club to join RFCU Luxembourg. However, the German forward has plenty of experience and he did score a brace in Differdange's first pre-season game against UNA Strassen, so we might see him do well here too.
On the other side, Drita will rely on their 26-year-old forward Arb Manaj for goals, along with their midfielder Albert Dabiqaj, who scored 10 goals in the Kosovo Superliga last season.
Predicted lineups
Drita: Maloku, Ovuka, Antunez, Bejtulai, Krasniqi, Mustafa, Broja, Debiqaj, Tusha, Manaj, Fressange
Differdange: da Costa, Bedure, Beyi, Santos Silva, D'Anzico, Varela, Martins, Da Silva, Simoes da Silva, El-Idrissi, Buch
Anything else catch the eye?
We saw goals on both sides in Drita's last three games, including both of their pre-season matches, which is why we expect to see the same on Tuesday, especially since BoyleSports offers enticing 6/5 odds on both teams to score.
That being said, Drita should be able to win this match since they were pretty solid last season in Europe, at least against teams of similar stature.
GambleAware