Armeniavs.Kosovo

Havakakan struggled towards the end of 2023 and will look to begin the new calendar year on a stronger foot, whilst the Dardanians are also hoping for a positive 2024.

Match preview

Despite a promising start to their European Championship qualifying campaign, Armenia will not be featuring at this summer's tournament in Germany after finishing fourth in a five-team section, with Latvia finishing below, whilst Turkey and Croatia booked automatic spots at the competition.

Back-to-back wins over Rob Page's Wales and the aforementioned Latvia gave Havakakan a fighting chance of finishing inside the top two in the group, but a run of five matches without collecting a victory at the end of the campaign ruined any opportunity to earn a spot in Germany.

Without a big competition to look forward to in the beginning of June, Armenia will use the next international breaks to prepare for their Nations League C campaign which commences in September, with Oleksandr Petrakov's side placed in a section with Latvia, North Macedonia and Faroe Islands.

Havakakan have failed to win any of their last five friendly matches, with their most recent success coming all the way back in March 2022, when a solitary strike from forward Vahan Bichakhchyan was enough to get the better of lowly-ranked Montenegro.

As is the case with Friday's hosts, Armenia were unable to book their spot at Euro 2024 in Germany this summer, finishing fifth in a six-team group which had the likes of Romania, Switzerland and Israel fighting for the top-two places in the section.

The Dardanians managed just two wins over the course of the 10-game group, beating whipping boys Andorra 3-0 away from home before earning a hard-fought maximum over Israel on home soil on November 12.

Primoz Gliha has been in charge of Kosovo for the second time since July 2023, winning two, drawing two and losing two of his opening six matches at the helm, with the 56-year-old hoping to guide the nation to their first major competition in the years to come, potentially targeting the revamped World Cup in 2026.

Kosovo will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats across all matches for the first time since June/September 2022, when the Dardanians were bested in two-straight away games in the Nations League by Greece and Ian Baraclough's Northern Ireland.

Armenia form (all competitions):

D

L

L

L

D

L

Kosovo form (all competitions):

D

L

W

W

D

L

Team News

After finding the net in the draw against Wales in November, 31-year-old Lucas Zelarayan should keep his place in Armenia's starting XI for Friday.

The players who are set to be providing him ammunition are wingers Artak Dashyan and Grant-Leon Ranos, with the latter plying his trade at Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach.

Also scoring in the last international break for European clubs, Muhamet Hyseni has made a strong claim to be promoted to the starting squad in this one.

The 23-year-old would likely replace Clermont Foot's Elbasan Rashani, who is yet to score in 19 Ligue 1 appearances for the bottom side this season.

Armenia possible starting lineup:

Cancarevic; Harutyunyan, Haroyan, Calisir, Tiknizyan; Spertsyan, Bichakhchyan, Iwu; Dashyan, Ranos, Zelarayan

Kosovo possible starting lineup:

Bekaj; Dellova, Aliti, Krasniqi; Hadergjonaj, Zyba, Vojvoda, Berisha; Bytyqi, Musija; Hyseni

We say: Armenia 2-1 Kosovo

Armenia have a less-than-ideal end to 2023 but should be confident of starting the new calendar year on a positive note on Friday afternoon.

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