The top two in Group B meet in Pristina on Tuesday night as second-placed Kosovo hosts leaders Switzerland.
Kosovo opened up their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-0 loss away at Switzerland, but since then, Franco Foda’s men have gone on to take 10 points from their next four qualifiers (W3-D1-L0).
The Balkan nation did the double over Sweden, as well as drawing 0-0 at home to Slovenia, before beating them 0-2 away from home on Saturday night.
However, the Dardanians will be forced to settle for second spot in Group B and a playoff place unless they beat the Swiss on Tuesday night by a six-goal margin.
That, however, seems really unlikely given how impressive Switzerland have been once again in a qualifying campaign, with Murat Yakin’s men picking up 13 points from a possible 15 (W4-D1-L0),
The latest of those victories came on Saturday night, as the Rossocrociati claimed a 4-1 victory over Sweden in front of their supporters.
How the bookies view it: Switzerland favourites
Despite playing away from home, Switzerland are favourites to claim all three points, with BOYLE Sports quoting an away success at just 1/2.
Kosovo are 9/2 underdogs to make it four wins from their last five qualifiers, whilst the draw is 14/5.
Head to head: Four unbeaten for the Swiss
These two nations have met on four occasions in the past three years, with the first three ending in draws, whilst Switzerland won 4-0 in the reverse fixture in Basel in September.
Players to watch: Breel to bag again?
Following an injury-hit two or three seasons with Monaco, Breel Embolo made the switch to Brittany in the summer, and the forward has scored three goals across his opening nine Ligue 1 outings for Rennes.
Embolo has also scored in three of Switzerland’s four victories in qualification – including a brace in the reverse fixture back in September – and is an appealing 21/20 at Bet365 to get on the scoresheet once again for his country.
Predicted line-ups:
Neither Kosovo nor Switzerland appear to have reported any new injury concerns following their respective victories on Saturday, so both should name similar starting line-ups.
Kosovo: Saipi, Dellova, Rrahmani, Hajdari, Vojvoda, Rexhbecaj, Avdullahu, Gallapeni, Muslija, Asllani, Muriqi
Switzerland: Kobel, Widmer, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez, Aebischer, Xhaka, Ndoye, Rieder, Vargas, Embolo
Anything else catch the eye?
Whilst Kosovo need to win by a six-goal margin to top the group, I’m not expecting a high-scoring encounter in Pristina on Tuesday night.
Switzerland have conceded just one goal across their opening five qualifiers, whilst Kosovo have kept four clean sheets since their 4-0 thrashing in Basel in the reverse fixture on MD1.
Therefore, backing against Both Teams to Score pays an appealing 10/11 at BOYLE Sports, whilst Under 2.5 Goals also appeals at 20/21 with the same firm.
GambleAware