Preview: Drita vs FCSB - prediction, team news, lineups

Drita will face Romanian champions FCSB in the Kosovan capital Pristina, over an hour away from their home in Gjilan, in the second leg of their Europa League Third Qualifying Round tie on Thursday.

The Kosovan champions squandered a two-goal lead in Bucharest last week, but have still given themselves a fighting chance of causing a huge upset against the 1986 European Cup winners.

Match preview

After winning the title in Kosovo last season, Drita will have had dreams of becoming just the second club from the country to make it through to a UEFA competition proper in the autumn.

Those hopes were given a huge boost when they knocked out Differdange in the first round of Champions League qualifying, meaning they now only need to win one more tie to be certain of league phase action in September.

Danish giants Copenhagen proved a step too far in the next round of the Champions League, but Zekirija Ramadani’s men put in a good account of themselves, only losing 3-0 on aggregate.

They are now guaranteed at least a Conference League playoff, the stage they got to last season before losing to Legia Warsaw, but after their performance in the first leg, the home side will be dreaming of advancing in the Europa League instead.

Drita led 2-0 with 25 minutes remaining in the Romanian capital last midweek, but conspired to lose 3-2, eventually succumbing to the undoubted quality on show for their opponents.

FCSB are having a woeful start to the season though, both domestically and on the continent, with their come-from-behind victory last week being the only game they have not lost in their previous six outings.

Elias Charalambous’s men have stumbled and stuttered in continental qualifying so far, inexplicably losing one of the two legs against Inter Escaldes of Andorra in the first round of UCL qualifying, before going out to Macedonian champions Shkendija in the following round, losing both home and away.

Those two defeats to Shkendija came in a four-game losing run that also saw them suffer defeat at home to both Farul Constanta and Dinamo Bucharest in the league, and they were beaten on home soil yet again at the weekend, losing 1-0 to newly-promoted Unirea Slobozia.

That leaves FCSB on just four points from five matches, sitting down in 12th, and another similar performance could see Drita stun them here in Pristina, just as they did in the opening hour a week ago.

Drita Europa League form:

FCSB Europa League form:

FCSB form (all competitions):

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Team News

FCSB keeper Stefan Tarnovanu has been serving a suspension domestically, but he will be available in Europe, so should regain his place in the side here after missing the weekend defeat.

Darius Olaru picked up an injury against Shkendija that he is yet to recover from, while Risto Radunovic has missed the last two with an issue of his own, with the duo joining Joyskim Dawa and Denis Alibec on the sidelines.

Charalambous rotated his side against Unirea at the weekend with this clash in mind, so expect to see the likes of Daniel Birligea, David Miculescu and Vlad Chiriches return.

Drita are yet to get their domestic campaign underway, so have had a full week to prepare for this one, and in turn could name an unchanged side from the one that almost earned a famous result in Bucharest.

Kristal Abazaj will hope to get more minutes under his belt after he came on as a late substitute to make his debut in the first leg.

Goals are needed for the hosts, and they had three players reach double figures in the Kosovan Superliga last season, including 35-year-old right-back Besnik Krasniqi, who could offer an offensive threat from out wide.

Drita possible starting lineup:

Maloku; Be Krasniqi, Bejtulai, Broja, Ovouka; Tusha, Dabiqaj, Limaj, Ajzeraj; Bl Krasniqi, Manaj

FCSB possible starting lineup:

Tarnovanu; Cretu, Graovac, M Popescu, Pantea; Chiriches, Sut, O Popescu; Miculescu, Birligea, Cisotti

We say: Drita (3) 1-3 (6) FCSB

FCSB have been in dreadful form of late, but the gulf in class and standing between the two clubs would mean anything but another win in the away leg would be hugely surprising.

Drita capitalised on FCSB’s fragility in the first 65 minutes last week, but their late collapse suggests they have not got the mettle to compete at this level.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.