Ballkani host Lincoln Red Imps at the Pristina City Stadium on Thursday night in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round. Ballkani are fresh off battering Larne 7-1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round. Ilir Daja's side won 3-0 at home and 4-1 on the road as Ballkani thoroughly dominated in both legs. Just last season, Ballkani became the first-ever Kosovan club to reach a UEFA group phase, coming through three qualifiers to get into the Europa Conference League. Having been dumped out of Champions League qualifying by Ludogorets, Ilir Daja’s team began their quest to repeat this feat by demolishing Larne in the previous round. Meanwhile, Lincoln from Gibraltar suffered a humbling exit from the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, losing 6-1 on aggregate to Qarabag. They are Gibraltar’s sole representatives in a European group stage, to date, getting there two years ago. Courtesy of winning their league last season, they were given a pass in the previous round of the Conference League qualifiers, paving a direct passage to the third qualifying round. For this encounter, I am expecting a win for Ballkani for the following reasons:

Firstly. Ballkani are in a good form at the moment. In the last six matches KF Ballkani have won four matches, one ended in a draw and they have lost one match. They have also been quite formidable while playing at home, as they have now won their last four home games in a row, and have not tasted any loss at home in their last 14 home games dating back to November of 2022. Their attacking threat will most likely make the difference in this contest as it is very effective and efficient as of late.

Secondly. Lincoln Red Imps are struggling badly at the moment. They are coming into this game on the back of three consecutive losses in all competitions. And their record in Europe is not encouraging as well. They have only won one of their last 12 games in Europe (including qualifiers and main event). Their away record is also poor as they have only won one game away from home in Europe in 18 attempts: a 2-1 win over Santa Coloma in the first round of the 2015-16 Champions League qualifiers.

Ballkani demonstrated their frightening attacking potential in the last round, which has bolstered their confidence following their painful Champions League exit. As Lincoln do not have the defence to contain them, I am expecting Ballkani to win the game by at least two goals margin.

周四晚上，巴尔卡尼将在普里什蒂纳城市体育场迎战林肯红魔队，这将是欧联杯第三轮预选赛首回合的比赛。巴尔卡尼刚刚在预选赛第二轮以总比分7-1击败拉恩。伊利尔·达贾的球队主场3-0，客场4-1获胜，巴尔卡尼在两回合比赛中都占据了绝对优势。就在上个赛季，巴尔卡尼成为科索沃第一个进入欧足联小组赛阶段的俱乐部，通过三场预选赛进入欧联杯。在欧冠预选赛被卢多戈雷茨淘汰出局后，伊利尔·达贾的球队开始了他们的征程，他们在上一轮击败了拉恩。与此同时，来自直布罗陀的林肯队在欧冠预选赛中以总比分6-1不敌卡拉巴格队，惨败出局。迄今为止，他们是直布罗陀在欧洲小组赛阶段的唯一代表，两年前就进入了小组赛。由于上赛季赢得了联赛冠军，他们在上一轮的西部联赛预选赛中获得了通行证，从而直接进入了第三轮的预选赛。对于这场比赛，我希望巴尔卡尼能取得胜利，原因如下:

首先。巴尔卡尼现在状态很好。在过去的六场比赛中，KF巴尔卡尼赢得了四场比赛，一场平局，一场失利。在主场比赛时，他们也相当强大，因为他们现在已经赢得了最近的四场主场比赛，并且自2022年11月以来，他们在最近的14场主场比赛中没有尝到任何损失。他们的进攻威胁很可能在这场比赛中发挥作用，因为他们最近非常有效和高效。

其次。林肯红小鬼队目前处境艰难。他们是在所有比赛中连续三场失利的情况下参加这场比赛的。他们在欧洲的记录也不令人鼓舞。他们在欧洲的最近12场比赛(包括预选赛和主要赛事)中只赢了一场。他们的客场战绩也很糟糕，他们在欧洲的18次客场比赛中只赢了一场:2015-16赛季欧冠预选赛第一轮2-1战胜圣科洛马。

巴尔卡尼在上轮比赛中展示了他们令人恐惧的进攻潜力，这增强了他们在欧冠出局后的信心。由于林肯没有防守来牵制他们，我希望巴尔卡尼能以至少两球的优势赢得比赛。