Romania vs Kosovo Prediction: Hosts marching towards promotion

There will be plenty at stake when Romania and Kosovo meet in Group C2 of the Uefa Nations League on Friday, with both teams vying for top spot and, with it, promotion to the second tier of the competition.

Read on for my Romania vs Kosovo prediction, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Football Odds

It is advantage Romania heading into the clash at the Arena Nationala in Bucharest, as they sit three points clear of their opponents at the top of the standings and know they will seal first place with a game to spare if they avoid defeat.

For Kosovo, they must win to keep their hopes of finishing first alive, but a point would be enough for them to lock down second spot and a place in the promotion play-offs.

Team News

Veteran Romania head coach Mircea Lucescu has included a quartet of uncapped players in his squad and goalkeeper Razvan Sava, defenders Matei Ilie and Alexandru Pascanu and forward David Miculescu will all be hoping to earn their first caps.

Former Inter Milan and Reading striker George Puscas has been left out of the squad this time around, but captain Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin and Dennis Man, who all starred at Euro 2024 over the summer, are available.

Kosovo are without left-back Leart Paqarada and attacking trio Bersant Celina, Milot Rashica and Ermal Krasniqi due to injury, but the country's all-time leading scorer, Vedat Muriqi, is back from a muscle issue and will be keen to add to his 28 international goals.

Romania vs Kosovo Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Romania vs Kosovo page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match

Romania are four wins from four in this Nations League campaign and they are, unsurprisingly, the 4/5 favourites to triumph in this match. Kosovo are 16/5 to win and take the race for top spot down to the final round of fixtures, while the draw is 5/2.

When the teams last met in Pristina in September, Romania triumphed 3-0 and it is 14/1 for Tricolorii to match that scoreline on Friday.

Romania to win to nil @ 15/8

Romania impressed at the Euros over the summer, reaching the last 16, and despite the departure of head coach Edward Iordanescu following that tournament, his replacement, Lucescu, has picked up where his predecessor left off.

Lucescu, who turns 80 next year, has overseen four wins from four games in this Nations League campaign, which began with a comprehensive 3-0 win in Kosovo.

Kosovo have improved since then, beating Cyprus home and away and seeing off Lithuania, but there appears to be a considerable gap between the Dardanians and Romania, who have scored 11 goals and conceded just two in this group.

Romania have also kept clean-sheets in their three previous meetings with Kosovo, winning two of those, all of which have taken place over the last 18 months.

This is a match the hosts should win and they will expect to do so without conceding.

Razvan Marin to score anytime @ 16/5

No player has scored more goals in League C of this season's Nations League than Romania midfielder Razvan Marin, who has four goals in as many games. To put that into perspective, that is the same number as Sweden's hot-shot striker Viktor Gyokeres.

Marin is not renowned for his goalscoring - he only had three goals in 52 games for Romania at the start of this year - but he has fired in six in 11 appearances during 2024.

That impressive recent goal return is largely down to Marin being Romania's chief penalty taker - each of his last five international strikes have been from the spot - although he did score from open play against Ukraine at the Euros.

Whether it's with a penalty or via another means, Marin is a prime candidate to continue his hot streak on Friday night.

Offers

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