Afghanistan
Angola
Argentina
Asia (AFC)
Asian Games
Australia
Belgium-Netherlands
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Central American & Caribbean Games
Central American Games
Congo DR
Denmark
England
Europe (UEFA)
FYR Macedonia
Finland
Germany
Greece
International Tournaments
Italy
Mediterranean Games
Mexico
National
Nepal
North & Central America (Concacaf)
Palestine
Pan American Games
Panama
Russia
Scandinavia
Serbia And Montenegro
South American Games
Spain
Syria
USA
Venezuela
World (FIFA)
Yemen
Zimbabwe

Preview: Montenegro vs. Lebanon - prediction, team news, lineups

sportsmole.co.uk, 10 October 2023, 16:06
Montenegro will prepare for their crucial Euro 2024 qualifier against Serbia next week with a friendly against Lebanon in Podgorica on Thursday.

The visitors will also be preparing for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and Asian Cup commitments they have on the horizon.

Match preview

With qualification for Euro 2024 still technically in Montenegro's hands, most of their attention will be on their trip to Belgrade on Tuesday.

While they must win to keep their destiny in their own hands, that does seem a tall order considering they have lost all three meetings with their neighbours since the two countries split shortly before they played as a unified nation at the 2006 World Cup.

Win all three of their remaining qualifiers though, and Montenegro will qualify for their first major tournament as an independent nation, after previous entries under Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro.

Miodrag Radulovic's side will warm up for that encounter with this friendly against one of AFC's mid-ranking nations.

Montenegro will enter the October break feeling both optimistic and underwhelmed after a strange set of games in September.

The Brave Falcons ended a four-game winless streak by beating Bulgaria in their last outing, thanks to Stevan Jovetic's 96th-minute winner while remarkably playing with 10 men.

That result went some way to rectify the wrongs of their 2-2 draw in Lithuania three days earlier, when captain Stefan Savic thought he had won it with an 89th-minute strike, only for Montenegro to squander two points when Fedor Cernych responded instantly with an excellent curling effort to share the spoils.

This should be a game that manager Radulovic will expect to win and set them on the right foot before the brief journey to Belgrade, but they have not had much success in the last 12 months in friendly matches.

Albeit against tougher opposition than Lebanon, Montenegro have failed to win any of their previous three - drawing here with Slovakia, before losing in Slovenia and being thrashed 4-1 at home by the Czech Republic.

Lebanon enter this break now outside the World's top 100 nations once more after the rankings were refreshed last month.

Despite being as high as 77th five years ago, the Cedars struggled in World Cup qualifying and in some minor tournaments played since their failure to reach Qatar.

Semi-final defeats against hosts Thailand in the King's Cup and to India in the SAFF Championship followed after Lebanon finished bottom of their six-team section in the final stage of Asian World Cup qualifying.

Their bid to reach the 2026 edition - where AFC will have many more qualifying spots - gets underway next month when they face neighbouring Palestine in a group which also contains Australia.

The Asian Cup is also coming up in January where Lebanon have been drawn with Qatar, China and Tajikistan - a group where they may have more difficulty in progressing from than their opening World Cup qualifying section.

Montenegro friendly form:

Montenegro form (all competitions):

W

L

D

L

D

W

Lebanon friendly form:

Lebanon form (all competitions):

Advert - content below:

Team News

Jovetic has put many of his injury woes behind him to feature more prominently for Montenegro in recent months, and he came up big again in the victory over Bulgaria with that late winner.

The Olympiacos man may be joined in attack by Lecce's Nikola Krstovic, who has made a phenomenal start to the season, scoring six league goals already, as well as in the draw in Lithuania.

Igor Vujacic has been named in the squad and will likely feature here, but he will then be banned for the trip to Serbia after being sent off against Bulgaria.

Savic of Atletico Madrid and Lazio's Adam Marusic faced each other in the Champions League last month, and the pair may start together on the right-hand side of defence.

This will be the first game in charge for Lebanon's new Croatian boss Nikola Jurcevic, but the set of players at his disposal here were not picked by him.

The entire squad, picked by the Lebanese FA, all ply their trade in Asia, with only four of the 28 playing outside Lebanon.

Three players present in the King's Cup squad have been left out, including Daniel Lajud, who plays in Mexico with Atlante, and left-back Maher Sabra.

Montenegro possible starting lineup:

Mijatovic; Marusic, Savic, Vujacic, Tomasevic, Vukcevic; Loncar, Bakic, Jankovic; Krstovic, Jovetic

Lebanon possible starting lineup:

M Matar; N Matar, Ayoub, Shour, Al Zein; Srour, Sisi, El-Helwe; Saad, Jradi, Maatouk

We say: Montenegro 2-0 Lebanon

Depending on how strong of an XI Radulovic opts to go with from the outset, a full Montenegro side should have no issue in making it back-to-back wins in this encounter.

Previews by email

Top News

23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain have reportedly stepped up their interest in signing Chelsea's Josh Acheampong, whose contract stand-off with the Blues is showing no signs of ending anytime soon. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United have supposedly added Paris Saint-Germain defender and former Ruben Amorim protege Nuno Mendes to their left-back shortlist for 2025. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool have a psychological advantage in the title race and can truly stake their claim as favourites by capitalising on their rivals' weaknesses over the coming weeks in the Premier League, Reds expert David Lynch has argued. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk La Liga Barcelona were stunned on Saturday evening as Celta Vigo scored twice in the final exchanges of their contest to secure a point in a pulsating 2-2 draw at the Estadio Municipal de Balaidos. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Two sides hoping to emerge from a rut will go head-to-head in the Turkish Super Lig when Trabzonspor host Adana Demirspor at Papara Park. 23 November 2024 talksport.com With the November international break in the rear-view mirror, the Premier League returned with a bang. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester City have set an unwanted losing record after suffering a heavy 4-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday evening. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta used a unique building analogy to explain his plan for Ethan Nwaneri after the 17-year-old scored his first Premier League goal in Saturday's 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest. 23 November 2024 talksport.com Chelsea may forcing themselves into the title race, but Troy Deeney believes a glaring issue 'is going to cost them' down the track. 23 November 2024 talksport.com A former Aston Villa captain is set to become an MLS manager this week. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City have lost their fifth consecutive game in all competitions after suffering a chastening 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening. 23 November 2024 talksport.com A 4-0 defeat to Tottenham wasn't what Pep Guardiola had in mind when it came to celebrating his new Manchester City contract. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Senior figures at Manchester United have allegedly concluded that Joshua Zirkzee 'is not good enough', with the club having 'serious doubts' when it comes to the Netherlands international. 23 November 2024 talksport.com Pep Guardiola has made unwanted history after Manchester City fell two goals behind after 20 minutes in their 4-0 defeat to Tottenham. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has hinted that Marcus Rashford will have an important role to play under him, with the Portuguese insisting that the attacker can play in all three positions in the final third of the field. 23 November 2024 talksport.com Manchester City's clash with Tottenham kicked off late after Rodri's Ballon d'Or presentation. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Fenerbahce head coach Jose Mourinho has reportedly made contact with legendary forward Cristiano Ronaldo to discuss a possible move for the Al-Nassr star next year. 23 November 2024 talksport.com A frustrated Leicester City boss Steve Cooper confirmed he will write to the PGMOL after his side's 2-1 loss to Chelsea. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Real Madrid will be bidding to make it successive victories in La Liga when they continue their 2024-25 campaign with a clash against newly-promoted Leganes on Sunday night. 23 November 2024 talksport.com Ethan Nwaneri became Arsenal's second youngest goalscorer in the Premier League in a dominant 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Joao Pedro was the star of the show as ten-man Brighton & Hove Albion recorded a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth in Saturday's Premier League contest at the Vitality Stadium. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Aston Villa twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace in Saturday afternoon's pulsating Premier League contest at Villa Park. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal snapped their four-game Premier League winless streak in Mikel Arteta's 250th match in charge of the club as they earned a comfortable 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Brentford picked up their first Premier League away point of the season at the sixth attempt as the 10-man Bees held a wasteful Everton to a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has explained how he wants Enzo Fernandez to adapt his game to fit seamlessly into his preferred system. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has made a total of three changes to his starting lineup for this evening's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium. 23 November 2024 talksport.com Portsmouth's trip to Blackburn was postponed less than four hours before kick-off on Saturday. 23 November 2024 talksport.com Sheffield United's Anel Ahmedhodzic was sent off after grabbing the throat of Coventry City forward Norman Bassette. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Ajax defender Devyne Rensch next summer, with the Netherlands international potentially being available on a free transfer. 23 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona star Lamine Yamal has reportedly agreed to sign a new long-term deal when he turns 18 next year.