Commencing their Euro 2024 qualifying campaigns, Group I rivals Israel and Kosovo clash on Saturday at Bloomfield Stadium.

While both nations missed out on last year’s World Cup, a wide-open draw offers either side an opportunity to reach next summer’s continental finals.

Players to watch: Israel forward Tai Baribo followed up his two goalscoring appearances for his country in November 2022 with five in a row for Austria’s Wolfsberger!

Similarly, since notching up five goals and three assists in the previous UNL cycle, Kosovo’s Vedat Muriqi has accumulated eight competitive goals for La Liga club Mallorca.

Hot stat: All but one of Israel’s last 13 matches saw both teams score on the day.

Israel form (all competitions):

WDWWWL

Kosovo form (all competitions):

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Israel possible starting lineup:

O. Glazer; Dasa, Vitor, Goldberg, Leidner; Peretz, Lavi, Kanichowsky; Haziza, Weissman, Solomon

Kosovo possible starting lineup:

Muric; Hadergjonaj, Rrahmani, Kyreziu, Rrudhani; Celina, Berisha, Muslija; Rashica, Muriqi, Zhegrova

Israel 2-1 Kosovo

The first competitive meeting between these nations could be a feisty one, as a lot is on the line even at this stage of the qualifying process. Israel scored plenty of goals last year, while their visitors also offer a real threat up front: a home win could be on the cards, though, as the Kosovars do not tend to travel well.