Montenegro v England: Balkan trips typically good for England
Published:England’s previous record away to Balkan nations has been especially good and this bodes well that they can claim victory in Montenegro.
It is three straight away wins for England in their trips to Balkan nations as they have already won 3-0 in Bulgaria in Euro 2012 qualifying, while they triumphed 4-1 in Croatia in a World Cup qualifier in 2008.
However, it is the showdowns with Macedonia in qualifying for Euro 2006 that bears the most resemblance to the current encounter with Montenegro.
Like Montenegro, Macedonia left England with a goalless draw, albeit it was at Old Trafford and not Wembley.
But England won their away clash with Macedonia in the group, with Peter Crouch’s early goal in the second half enough to secure a 1-0 victory.
The same result will be more than enough for England this time to confirm their spot at Euro 2012, although it will not be Crouch who will do the damage as he has been left out of Fabio Capello’s squad.
England’s odds are 8/11 to win in Montenegro, while the 6/1 on offer that they triumph 1-0 could also be worth taking advantage of.
Montenegro may have slacked of late by taking just one point from their last two qualifiers to hand England the initiative in Group G, but they have still only conceded three goals in their six fixtures to date.
Meanwhile, the fact that Montenegro have only managed five goals in the same six games shows the difficulties they tend to have in front of goal and they have only to score more than once on a single occasion in all of their last eight fixtures.
England to win with two or fewer goals scored in the match also looks a decent bet at 11/5.
