Montenegro: England opponents analysed ahead of European Qualifier

Montenegro face England in the European Qualifiers on Monday night, and here's all you need to know about the nation ranked 46th in the world....

After a 5-0 thrashing of Czech Republic, England will be expected to win in Podgorica on Monday night, but Montenegro will be desperate to record their first victory this year after they endured a disappointing 2018.

We take a look at the key info you need to know ahead of the Group A Euro 2020 qualifier.

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Follow live text commentary of Montenegro vs England on the Sky Sports digital platforms, and watch highlights on Sky Sports Football HD from 11pm.

The manager

Ljubisa Tumbakovic has been in charge of Montenegro since January 2016 having previously won silverware with Shandong Luneng, where he lifted two Chinese Super League titles in between spells in Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Widely considered a great success domestically, the Belgrade-born Tumbakovic coached Partizan for nearly a decade in two separate periods, winning six league titles and three domestic cups.

In a six-year playing career, Tumbakovic was on the books at Partizan for the entirety of it, but never made a competitive appearance. He had two separate loan spells at FK Vardar and Radnicki Sombor.

The form

Montenegro were close to 2018 World Cup qualification after a strong start in Group E, but they narrowly missed out on a play-off place - finishing third on 16 points - after losing their last two fixtures against Denmark and Poland.

Their Nations League campaign last year was disappointing, too, as they won just two of their six matches, with both victories coming against Lithuania.

The last two matches Montenegro played in 2018 were defeats in Group C4 to Serbia and Romania. It was a year Montenegro will be eager to forget.

Key players

Montenegro's star forward and captain Stevan Jovetic, formerly of Manchester City, was forced to withdraw from the squad as he recovers from a knee injury he sustained playing for Monaco in January.

The goal-scoring burden will likely be placed on Montenegro's most-capped player in the squad; Fatos Beciraj (59 caps). The 30-year-old is currently enjoying a prolific stint in the Israeli Premier League with 13 goals in 23 appearances for Maccabi Netanya.

Atletico Madrid defender Stefan Savic is an injury doubt (hamstring) after missing out of their 1-1 draw with Bulgaria on Friday. But if he is fit, he will be expected to command the Montenegro backline against England's quick attack. His experience at elite level under the tutelage of Diego Simeone at Atletico means his impact could prove pivotal.

Meanwhile, Levante's Nikola Vukcevic, Lorient goalkeeper Danijel Petkovic and Serie-A based players Adam Marusic (Lazio) plus winger Marko Jankovic (SPAL) are their other representatives from Europe's top five leagues, and will likely all start in either a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 formation.

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