Northern Ireland play host to Kosovo on Saturday evening knowing that three points could prove to be enough to avoid relegation to League D of the UEFA Nations League.

With Greece having already secured promotion, Kosovo are looking for the win which would guarantee second spot in League C Group 2.

Match preview

When Northern Ireland were drawn alongside Greece, Kosovo and Cyprus, there was genuine expectation that they could win the group by taking advantage of their home fixtures and battling hard on their travels.

However, just two points and four goals have come from their opening quartet of matches, a failure to defeat Cyprus in either game leaving Ian Baraclough under pressure in the dugout.

At a time when Cyprus still have to play the same opponents, Northern Ireland will expect to retain their third-tier status, but they could make things far easier for themselves with maximum points on Saturday.

That said, the Green and White Army have only won one fixture at Windsor Park in three years, that success coming in a World Cup qualifying dead-rubber against Lithuania at the end of 2021.

Last time out, they found themselves 2-0 down to Cyprus with 20 minutes remaining, only for Paddy McNair and Jonny Evans to net goals which indicate that this group of players are still playing for their manager.

While Kosovo are not necessarily playing with the same quality that they were in 2018 and 2019, they remain capable of causing problems for any of the teams at this level of international football.

That is how it has proven with wins over the bottom two nations in this group, only suffering defeats to runaway leaders Greece by 1-0 and 2-0 scorelines respectively.

At a time when Northern Ireland have struggled at home, Kosovo have hardly been productive on their travels, their most notable away success in three years coming in Georgia in 2021.

Nevertheless, Alain Giresse's side are the marginal favourites for this contest, helped by their 3-2 success in the reverse fixture in June.

Team News

Baraclough could make widespread changes to his Northern Ireland XI with Trevor Carson, Brodie Spencer and Daniel Ballard all not available after starting in the last match.

Goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell will feature between the sticks, Conor Bradley is in line to start at right-back, and Paddy McNair may drop back in the middle of defence.

Corry Evans and George Saville could start in central midfield, with Dion Charles potentially dropping down to the substitutes' bench.

With Valon Berisha unavailable for Kosovo, the versatile Florent Hadergjonaj could take his place in the midfield to add some experience.

The former Huddersfield Town man is also capable of deputising in a wide area, but changes to the team are likely to be kept to a minimum.

Northern Ireland possible starting lineup:
Carson; Spencer, McNair, Evans, Brown; Evans, Saville; Lavery, Davis, McMenamin; Magennis

Kosovo possible starting lineup:
Muric; Rrudhani, Rrahmani, Kryeziu, Aliti; Domgjoni, Hadergjonaj; Rashica, Muslija, Bytyqi; Muriqi

We say: Northern Ireland 1-1 Kosovo

Given their lack of victories of late, it is difficult to back with Northern Ireland will any level of confidence. However, under pressure to avoid defeat, we feel that Baraclough's men will do just enough to earn a hard-fought share of the spoils against opponents who would also accept a point at Windsor Park.

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