Preview: Egnatia Rrogozhine vs Lillestrom - prediction, team news, lineups

Egnatia Rrogozhine and Lillestrom square off in the first leg of their Europa League playoff round tie on Thursday night.

Even with defeat, the Albanian champions and Norwegian cup winners are guaranteed some level of League Phase football in Europe for 2026-27.

Match preview

With Albania not having a team in the main phase of a European competition since 2017-18, Egnatia will justifiably feel that they have already achieved their goal.

Victories over Petrocub in the Champions League first qualifying round and Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League third qualifying round have ensured that the nine-year absence for clubs from their absence has come to an end.

Trailing 3-1 after the first leg of the second of those ties, Egnatia incredibly fought back to prevail by a 5-1 scoreline on home territory.

Although their goal will be to participate into the more lucrative Europa League, manager Nevil Dede would be optimistic regarding progress past the League Phase should they drop down into the Conference League.

In six European games this summer, Egnatia have only suffered one defeat. However, there have been 29 goals across those matches and they are yet to keep a clean sheet.

As far as Lillestrom are concerned, they are in this competition after a famous Norwegian Cup triumph when they were playing second-tier football.

Lillestrom have since carried on that momentum to currently sit in fifth place in the Eliteserien table with 26 points from 17 matches.

That said, Hans Erik Odegaard witnessed his side suffer three consecutive defeats before a 1-1 at KFUM Oslo over the weekend.

Their last appearance in Europe was suffering a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Royal Antwerp in the Conference League third qualifying round in 2022-23.

Egnatia Rrogozhine form (all competitions):

Lillestrom form (all competitions):

Team News

Egnatia will be without Edison Ndreca after the left-back picked up two yellow cards against Shamrock.

Numan Ajetovikj should replace him in defence, while there is also a doubt over Guillem Jaime after he picked up an injury in the previous European fixture.

Winger Alessandro Albanese has scored three goals in five European outings during 2026-27.

Having witnessed his team end a losing streak in the last league game, Odegaard may be prepared to select the same Lillestrom XI.

Felix Va made it four goals and five assists from 17 games with an effort in that 1-1 draw, but key player Eric Kitolano will only be named on the substitutes' bench after his recent return from a broken leg.

Egnatia Rrogozhine possible starting lineup:

Dajsinani; Smajli, Bitri, Sota, Ajetovikj; Loukili, Mederios, Aleksi, Albanese; Gruda, Adjessa

Lillestrom possible starting lineup:

Dahlberg; Ranger, Gabrielsen, Kristiansen, Elkaer; Ibrahiamaj, Krygard, Nyheim; Paintsil, Gulbrandsen, Va

We say: Egnatia Rrogozhine 1-2 Lillestrom

Given the amount of goals that have been scored in their recent encounters, Egnatia will back themselves to build a lead over their Norwegian opponents. However, we are predicting that the visitors will come through in a hard-fought contest, providing themselves with a foothold ahead of a mammoth second leg.

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