Preview: Latvia vs Montenegro - prediction, team news, lineups

Visitors Montenegro will look to continue their perfect start to their Nations League C campaign with a victory against Latvia on Friday at Stadions Skonto.

The hosts only have one point from a possible six and are last in fourth, while first-placed Montenegro have maximum points from their first two matches, with the nation beating Armenia 3-2 on September 28.

Match preview

Latvia failed to produce a single shot on target during their goalless stalemate with Cyprus on Monday, and only two of their attempts from inside the box came from open play.

Manager Paolo Nicolato will be alarmed by the fact his side have now failed to score in any of their past three clashes, and they have scored fewer than two goals in each of their past nine fixtures.

The hosts' form of late has been poor, with the nation losing eight, drawing five and winning just two of their 15 most recent games.

Latvia's home form has hardly been better given they have suffered five defeats in their past 10 matches as hosts, a period in which they emerged as victors once.

Nicolato's team blanked in half of those outings, though they only conceded two or more goals in three of those showdowns.

© Imago

Montenegro needed Aleksa Latkovic to net a winner in the 89th minute to avoid dropping points against Armenia, with their opponents having twice come from behind in that match.

Boss Mirko Vucinic has now overseen three wins from his last four games, while he also managed to avoid defeat in that time.

The visitors only kept one clean sheet in those four games, though they did find the back of the net on eight occasions.

Montenegro have only faced the hosts four times previously, and they are yet to suffer a defeat, winning twice against their opponents.

The Brave Falcons are unbeaten in their past four away matches - they won three of those fixtures - and that is a remarkable turnaround considering they had lost each of their prior nine contests on the road.

Latvia Nations League form:

Latvia form (all competitions):

Montenegro Nations League form:

Montenegro form (all competitions):

Team News

© Iconsport / Armin Durgut/Pixsell/ Alamy

Latvia will have to rely on their defence if they are to take anything from Friday's fixture, so Deniss Melniks, Antonijs Cernomordijs and Dennis Cirkin must be at their best in the backline.

Perhaps Vladislavs Gutkovskis and Roberts Uldrikis will be used together in the frontline, while Eduards Emsis may anchor midfield.

Montenegro duo Milutin Osmajic and Nikola Krstovic started together last time out, and the forwards will be trusted up front once again.

Midfielder Stefan Loncar is in line to make his 30th appearance for the national team, and he could be joined by Marko Jankovic.

In defence, the most likely candidates to feature in the heart of the backline are Andrej Duric and Stefan Savic.

Latvia possible starting lineup:

Matrevics; Melniks, Cernomordijs, Cirkin; Savalnieks, Zelenkovs, Emsis, Vapne, Ciganiks; Gutkovskis, Uldrikis

Montenegro possible starting lineup:

Popovic; Roganovic, Duric, Savic, Gasevic; Vukovic, Loncar, Jankovic, Bulatovic; Osmajic, Krstovic

We say: Latvia 0-2 Montenegro

With Montenegro in strong form, they will rightly be seen as favourites, especially as they have travelled well.

Latvia have also struggled to create chances in the final third for some time, and there is no reason to think they can threaten the visitors.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.