Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Conference League clash between KF Ballkani and Shamrock Rovers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

KF Ballkani and Shamrock Rovers square off in the first leg of their Conference League third qualifying round tie on Thursday night.

Both teams made relatively light work of their respective opponents in the previous round to move two ties away from a place in the League Phase.

Match preview

After two group-stage appearances in the Conference League between 2022 and 2024, Ballkani have been scrambling for another experience in the main stage of a European competition ever since.

However, they bowed out at the third qualifying round stage in 2024-25, losing on penalties to Northern Irish side Larne, and they now face opponents across the Irish border in the same round.

The Kosovan outfit came through 5-3 on aggregate against Maltese side Floriana in the previous round, a 4-2 win in the first leg setting them up for the reverse fixture.

Unusually, Ballkani’s best form in Europe of late has come on their travels, with just one of their last six games played at the Theranda City Stadium – their most recent such game – ending in victory.

Ballkani had won all three league titles between 2021 and 2024, yet they finished 12 points adrift of the champions during the last campaign.

Shamrock Rovers have followed a similar path, winning four League of Ireland trophies in succession before finishing as runners-up in 2024.

Nevertheless, they are well on track to regaining their crown having opened up a 10-point lead at the top of the standings after 26 matches.

In all competitions, Stephen Bradley‘s team have prevailed in five of their last six games, keeping five clean sheets in a row.

Their only blip came courtesy of a goalless draw against St Joseph’s in the second leg of the previous round of this competition, yet they had already established a 4-0 lead from the away fixture.

KF Ballkani form (all competitions):

W D

Shamrock Rovers form (all competitions):

W W W W D W

Team News

Orges Shehi is likely to select much of the Ballkani XI that started the second leg at Floriana last week.

If a change is made, Walid Hamidi could start on the flank ahead of Bleart Tolaj, but Sunday Adetunji will lead the line having scored three goals in the previous round.

Meanwhile, Daniel Cleary could miss out for Shamrock Rovers after the defender picked up an injury during the closing stages of the win over Derry City on Sunday.

Cory O’Sullivan will come into the back three if required, while Connor Malley helped turn the game in his side’s favour at the weekend and could be restored to the engine room.

Rory Gaffney netted both goals against Derry City to take his tally to eight from 19 league games during 2025.

KF Ballkani possible starting lineup:

Golubovic; Smajli, Jashanica, Batarelo, Potoku; Deliu, Diene, Giovanni; Tolaj, Adetunji, Kryeziu,

Shamrock Rovers possible starting lineup:

McGinty; Lopes, O’Sullivan, Grace; Grant, Watts, Mandroiu, Healy, Honohan; McEneff, Gaffney

SM words green background

We say: KF Ballkani 1-1 Shamrock Rovers

With Shamrock Rovers having been impressive in defence of late, we cannot back against them pulling off another rearguard performance here. However, we also have to respect Ballkani’s home advantage, and both teams could come out of this fixture with a satisfactory stalemate.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.