The Czech Republic did good business last Friday by beating Bulgaria in-house. At a new home victory in Montenegro, the Czechs are in very good shape.
Czech Republic:
The Czech Republic started the qualifying campaign with a staggering 5-0 defeat against England and knew that it could no longer afford a slip against the other countries in the group: Bulgaria, Montenegro and Kosovo. Last Friday, Bulgaria was narrowly defeated in Prague with 2-1. After three minutes, however, things seemed to go wrong again when the team of coach Jaroslav Silhavy was already looking at a 0-1 deficit. In the course of the match, Patrik Schick grabbed his team by the hand and with two hits the AS Roma striker gave his team the victory.
Thanks to the victory, the Czech Republic is now in second place in the group with three points, one more than close pursuers Bulgaria, Montenegro and Kosovo. With a new home victory, the Czechs are therefore in excellent shape.
The revival of Schick suited the Czechs well, as the team has very little scoring ability in the ranks. Midfielder Thomas Soucek (13 goals for Slavia Prague last season) was the only player in the selection who managed to score more than four times for his club last season.
Montenegro:
Montenegro was in the race for a long time to qualify for the World Cup in Russia last summer, but had to leave Denmark the ticket for the play-offs at the last minute. Since the failure of that World Cup in November 2017, the performance of the Montenegrins has gone downhill. In the thirteen games that followed, the men of coach Ljubisa Tumbakovic only managed to win twice against Lithuania in the context of the Nations League.
The current qualifying pool also started badly with a 1-5 defeat against England and a 1-1 draw against Kosovo. In a defeat against the Czechs, European Championship qualification will be a very difficult story for Montenegro.
A big damper for the Balkan country is that the two best players are missed. Stevan Jovetic has been struggling with injuries for a long time and the training showed that Atletico Madrid defender Stefan Savic is also unable to play. The lack of these two classrooms saves a sip on a drink for a small football country like Montenegro.
PREDICTION: Czech Republic to win @ 1,65
