Jim Brown – USA Today Sports
England and Montenegro will offer a very entertaining clash between two sides that are displaying very good play at the moment, with an English side that will look to maintain their first place of Group F and a Montenegrin team that are fighting to secure their place in a World Cup for the first time in their brief history.
The standings in the Group F are very even and with only two matches left, both England and Montenegro have really good chances to qualify. Roy Hodgson’s team is in first place with 16 points and Branko Brnovic’s side are sitting third with one point less, but has a worse goal differential than Ukraine (+15 against +7).
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Frank Lampard emerges as the player to watch on England. The Chelsea attacking midfielder started the season hot and has been one of the few bright spots of the Blues this year, so he will look to continue his hot streak while playing for his country. On the other hand, Montenegro’s chances will rely heavily on Stevan Jovetic, who hasn’t been playing much at Manchester City but showed flashes of brilliance playing for Fiorentina last year.
Prediction: England 1 – 0 Montenegro
It will be a tough match, and neither side will have the upper hand over the other, but in the end the experience of England will keep them calm in the final minutes, allowing them to win a key fixture in the World Cup qualifying race. Montenegro will leave empty-handed despite a good presentation.
Juan Pablo Aravena is a soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @jparavenarant or add him to your network on Google
