England are looking to secure their place at the top of UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Group A when they host Montenegro at Wembley Stadium in London on Thursday. Gareth Southgate's men won the reverse fixture 5-1 and that was the second consecutive win for England against Montenegro. However, before those back-to-back wins Montenegro had managed to record three consecutive draws against the Three Lions.
England suffered their first defeat of the campaign last month, their four-game winning streak ended in Prague where they lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic, but three days later they bounced back and thrashed Bulgaria 6-0 in Sofia. Now England are leading the group table with a three-point advantage over second-placed Czech Republic and four points over third-placed Kosovo, a draw against Montenegro would be enough to secure their position. Manchester City's Raheem Sterling was excluded from the squad following a bust-up with Liverpool defender Joe Gomez, while Jordan Henderson is suspended for this game.
Montenegro had a terrible campaign so far, their worst qualifying campaign for a final tournament in their history. They have collected just three points in seven games and have not won any matches. This will be their last match of the campaign and all they can hope is to avoid finishing last. They are currently tied on three points with Bulgaria, who will play their last match of the campaign on Sunday against Czech Republic.
Probable line-ups:
England: Pickford - Trippier, Maguire, Stones, Rose - Oxlade-Chamberlain, Winks, Mount - Sancho, Kane, Rashford
Montenegro: Petkovic - Vesovic, Kopitovic, Simic, Radunovic - Lagator, Vukcevic - Boljevic, Kosovic, Jovovic - Mugosa
My prediction:
This will most likely be a sad ending to the campaign for Montenegro, England are strong, even without Sterling, and I believe the home side will win 4-0.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
England win - 1.06
Draw - 12.00
Montenegro win - 35.50
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