Sports Mole previews Sunday’s friendly clash between Montenegro and Georgia, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Georgia will play their only pre-Euro 2024 warm-up fixture on Sunday evening, with Montenegro their opponents at Podgorica City Stadium.
The visitors will take on Turkey in their European Championship opener on June 18, while Montenegro will be back in competitive action in the UEFA Nations League at the start of September.
Match preview
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Montenegro have never qualified for the finals of a major tournament, and they will also not be present at Euro 2024, having finished third in their qualification section behind Hungary and Serbia.
The national team can take heart from what was a solid campaign, though, and they will enter this match in good form, having triumphed in three of their last five matches.
Montenegro beat Belarus and North Macedonia in their two friendlies back in March, returning to action against Belgium on Wednesday evening, and they suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Euro 2024 participants.
Robert Prosinecki‘s side will now be eyeing their third victory of 2024 in what will be their final match before the return of competitive action in the UEFA Nations League at the start of September.
Montenegro will play in Group 4 of League B in the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League, with Iceland, Turkey and Wales also present in a competitive section.
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Georgia, on the other hand, are preparing for their first-ever European Championship, with the national side beating Greece on penalties in the playoffs back in March to advance to Euro 2024.
The Crusaders have not been in action since that success over Greece, with the team deciding to play just one friendly before opening their European Championship campaign on June 18.
Willy Sagnol‘s side will face Turkey, Czech Republic and Portugal in Group F, and it will be fascinating to see how they perform at the competition, particularly against three strong sides.
The Georgia squad is headlined by Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili and Napoli attacker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, but there is plenty of other quality across the board, and a positive result against Turkey on June 18 would lead them nicely into their second match with the Czech Republic.
The Crusaders are aiming for their first-ever win over Montenegro, and the latter ran out 2-1 winners when the two teams last locked horns back in October 2009.
Montenegro friendly form:
Montenegro form (all competitions):
Georgia friendly form:
Georgia form (all competitions):
Team News
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Montenegro are again likely to have Millwall goalkeeper Matija Sarkic between their sticks on Sunday night, while there should also be a spot at the back for Aberdeen’s Slobodan Rubezic.
Stevan Jovetic is the captain and comfortably the leading goalscorer in the squad, netting 35 times for his country, and he should retain his spot in the number 10 position.
Nikola Krstovic, who plays his club football for Lecce, should also start, while Stefan Mugosa, who has 15 goals for his country, is also expected to be involved at some stage.
As for Georgia, head coach Sagnol could name the same side that started the playoff success over Greece, with Kvaratskhelia set to be joined by Budu Zivzivadze in the final third of the field.
Guram Kashia will captain the team from the back, and the 36-year-old is in line to secure his 113th cap for his country in this international friendly.
Watford’s Giorgi Chakvetadze is also expected to feature in midfield, while Giorgi Kochorashvili, who plays his club football for Levante, is another likely starter for Georgia in this contest.
Montenegro possible starting lineup:
Sarkic; Vesovic, Rubezic, Vujacic, Vukcevic; Kuc, Bakic; Osmajic, Jovetic, Camaj; Krstovic
Georgia possible starting lineup:
Mamardashvili; Kvirkvelia, Kashia, Dvali; Kakabadze, Kochorashvili, Kiteishvili, Chakvetadze, Shengelia; Kvaratskhelia, Zivzivadze
We say: Montenegro 1-2 Georgia
Georgia have scored 14 times in their last two friendlies against Mongolia and Thailand, but this will be a tougher examination. We are expecting a tight match on Sunday but believe that Georgia will be able to navigate their way to a win in their final fixture before their Euro 2024 campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.