Cyprus vs. Kosovo - prediction, team news, lineups

Preview

Cyprus host Kosovo in a friendly clash at AEK Arena - Georgios Karapatakis on Thursday, which would be the first-ever meeting between the two nations. The match has been arranged as part of both teams' preparations for the upcoming Nations League fixtures, with Stathis Athanasiou's men set to take on Northern Ireland and Kosovo to face off against Greece. Cyprus finished their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign with four points, having taken three points from their two matches with Malta, but failing to win any of their other eight fixtures. They have not played since losing 2-0 to Croatia in November, a result that ended a three-match unbeaten run for the Cypriots. Kosovo, meanwhile, topped their Nations League group in 2022, winning four of their six matches and losing twice against Greece, who they now face again in June. They could not maintain that form in their World Cup qualifying campaign though, as they collected just eight points from 10 matches to finish fourth in their group. Kosovo, who were only founded in 2016, have not played since their 5-0 friendly defeat to Switzerland in November, and they will be looking to bounce back with a victory in Larnaca. Cyprus possible starting lineup: Neophytou; Antoniou, Kousoulos, Panagiotou, Ioannou; Artymatas, Kastanos, Lambrou; Papoulis, Pittas, Loizou Kosovo possible starting lineup: Muric; Aliti, Rrahmani, Dresevic, Kastrati; Berisha, Daku, Loshaj; Rashani, Muriqi, Zhegrova