FK Zalgiris vs KF Ballkani Match Analysis and Prediction

3 years ago 558

FK Zalgiris and KF Ballkani will be fighting for a place in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers when they face off at LFF Stadium in the second leg of their first-round tie on Tuesday night.

The two drew 1-1 in the first leg of this fixture last week with Nazmi Gripshi opening the scoring in the 15^th minute for Ballkani, before Oliver Buff of Zalgiris leveled the scores 10 minutes later.

The two have not be in action since the first leg and we expect another closely-fought encounter with both being well rested for the second leg tie.

The draw extended Zalgiris unbeaten run to five matches across all competitions, but ended their winning form as they were coming off a fourth-match winning streak in Lithuanian A Lyga. They will now be looking to bounce back to winnings ways as they aim to progress to the next stage of the qualifiers.

Vladimir Cheburin’s side will look to maximize their home advantage and having won four of their last five home matches they should fancy their chances on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Ballkani prepared for the first leg tie with three friendly matches, as their domestic league campaign will begin early next month. They won two and lost one of the warm-up matches, with the defeat coming against KF Drita before the draw with Zalgiris last week.

Therefore, they are a bit struggling with their form and thus are viewed as the underdogs for match, but they are well rested since the first leg and should be totally written off.