Montenegro play host to Gibraltar on Saturday afternoon looking to make it back-to-back wins in Group G.
While the home side got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to the perfect start against Latvia, Gibraltar succumbed to Norway by a 3-0 scoreline.
Match preview
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On the back of their form during the UEFA Nations League, Montenegro boss Miodrag Radulovic would have expected his side to make relatively light work of Latvia on Thursday evening.
However, while it took two goals from Stevan Jovetic to earn a 2-1 comeback victory in Riga, claiming all three points in what will be a fiercely-contested group was all that mattered.
Turkey's win over the Netherlands has already opened the door for the other qualification contenders, raising the stakes for Montenegro as they bid to head into Tuesday's meeting with Norway on maximum points.
With just one defeat in 10 matches, they should have few issues with overcoming the minnows of the group, but Radulovic will stress to his team that goal difference could play a part later in the schedule.
Montenegro have conceded just three goals during their most recent six home fixtures, keeping four clean sheets during that period.
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Although Gibraltar can claim to have recorded three clean sheets in seven games, two of those fixtures were against San Marino.
Keeping Erling Braut Haaland and co out for 43 minutes earlier this week was arguably more impressive with goalkeeper Dayle Coleing producing an eye-catching performance.
Each of Norway's three goals were netted during a 14-minute period either side of half time, a sequence which would have frustrated Julio Cesar Ribas after the resoluteness shown for the majority of the opening period.
Nevertheless, Ribas will feel that his side have something to work with ahead of their first-ever game against this opponent.
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Team News
Despite the need for three points, Radulovic will almost certainly make a number of changes ahead of the following fixture against Norway.
Vladimir Jovovic, Fatos Beqiraj and Aleksandar Boljevic will all be considered for starting roles after their outings as substitutes in midweek.
Radulovic may also want to rest Stefan Savic, potentially replacing the Atletico Madrid man with Marko Simic.
Having named a big squad for these three fixtures, Ribas is expected to make alterations to his Gibraltar XI.
Jamie Bosio, Erin Barratt and Julian Valarino could be drafted into the side, while Reece Styche of English non-league side Buxton is also in contention for a start.
Montenegro possible starting lineup:
Mijatovic; Marusic, Simic, Vujacic, Radunovic; Scekic, Kosovic; Ivanovic, Jovetic, Haksabanovic; Beqiraj
Gibraltar possible starting lineup:
Coleing; Sergeant, Chipolina, Wiseman, Mouelhi, Mascarenhas-Olivero; Walker, Annesley, Bosio, Valarino; Styche
We say: Montenegro 3-0 Gibraltar
Despite showing character against Norway, Gibraltar were fortunate to only lose by a 3-0 scoreline. With that in mind, we feel that Montenegro will make light work of the visitors, motivated to remain a fixture at the right end of the standings.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Montenegro win with a probability of 53.42%. A draw had a probability of 24.6% and a win for Gibraltar had a probability of 22.01%.
The most likely scoreline for a Montenegro win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.15%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.99%) and 2-1 (9.6%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.67%), while for a Gibraltar win it was 0-1 (7.1%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 2.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Montenegro would win this match.
