Montenegro v Wales
Football : Euro 2012 Qualifier
Friday 3 September 2010 - Kickoff 6:30pm

This game is live on TV

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Montenegro

Montenegro were placed in the 5th pot of the qualifying seeds but have to be considered as one of the more dangerous teams in that section as they are relatively a new nation, playing as Serbia & Montenegro as recently as World Cup 2006. This is a tough group for them to be placed in alongside England, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Wales, but one where they could have an impact, especially at home.

This is only the 2nd qualifying campaign that the nation will take part in after failing to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. However, they did achieve some positive results and in Mirko Vucinic and Steven Jovetic are their more famous names, the latter being described as the 'next Roberto Baggio' due more to his hairstyle and playing for Fiorentina.

The nation have actually played Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland already during their fledgling Fifa career, recording wins over the first two and drawing with the other here. They had a 1-3-1 record here in their last qualifying campaign, drawing with Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria with only Italy getting the win. Montenegro have lost 1 of their last 6 games at home, although that was an eyebrow raising defeat to Albania.

Steven Jovetic is missing from this game after suffering a serious injury in pre-season that should see him miss the next 6 months.

Possible Montenegro Line Up: Bozovic, Pavicevic, Batak, Basa, Jovanovic, Drincic, Novakovic, Pekovic, Vukcevic, Djalovic and Vucinic (4-2-3-1)

Wales

John Toshack has slowly been building his side up, filling it with a lot of young talent and giving them the opportunity to gain vital international experience with the hope they will gel into a side that can finally qualify for a major international tournament. Unfortunately, this method, while commendable, means his side are usually one of the lower ranked nations and thus are more often than not placed in a tough group.

Wales will be hoping that Gareth Bale and Craig Bellamy can bring their club form into the international arena to give themselves even a chance to progress from the group. It is unlikely they top the group, especially with England involved, but they will be hoping the Dragons can push for 2nd place. Injuries are once again affecting the squad with the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Danny Gabbidon and Jack Collison missing.

The young Dragons finished 4th in their last qualifying campaign behind Germany, Russia and Finland and their only wins came against Azerbaijan and Leichstenstein, both home and away. They did prove something though in their away games, losing only by 1 goal in Germany, Finland and Russia, and really giving those nations a tough time.

Possible Wales Line Up: Hennessey, Gunter, Ricketts, Williams, Collins, Vaughan, Ledley, Edwards, Bellamy, Bale and Morison (4-5-1)

Head to Head

These 2 nations met in an international friendly 12 months ago and it was Montenegro who came out the 2-1 winners. Wales have suggested in the build up to this game that they had underestimated their opponents and were not sure what to expect.

Prediction

Montenegro want to push on and make a real impact in this group, but the loss of Jovetic is very big for the side. Their manager, Zlatko Kranjcar, has made it clear he expects nothing less than a win from this game before their trip to Bulgaria 4 days later.

John Toshack feels he will now begin to see the rewards of giving his young players so much international experience. The side have proven tough to beat away from home in recent qualifiers and have the experience of playing in this atmosphere before. Wales will not play their next qualifiers until next month and will want a positive result to start the group off.

I think the Welsh may have been underrated in this game. Montenegro are a strong side, but have only won 1 of their 5 competitive games at home, and are without one of their biggest talents. The atmosphere will also provide less of a shock for the Welsh players and the pace of Bale and Bellamy should cause problems.

I will pick Wales not to lose here.

The Pick :

Montenegro 1-1 Wales

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Wales + 0.5 Asian Handicap