Montenegro vs Cyprus prediction and predicted line-ups, Vučinić without Hakšabanović and unsure in goal. Nations League, Friday 25 September

Mirko Vučinić's Montenegro open their Nations League campaign in Podgorica on Friday 25 September against Cyprus, a side that have never beaten them in five attempts. Vučinić is without Sead Hakšabanović and admits he has a problem in goal, while his captain Stevan Jovetić has been playing in Cyprus, for AEL Limassol, since August.

Montenegro vs Cyprus: kick-off time and venue

Montenegro vs Cyprus kicks off at 19:45 UK time (20:45 CEST) on Friday 25 September at the Gradski Stadion in Podgorica. It is Group C2 of League C in the Nations League, with Armenia and Latvia: the winners go up to League B and the runners-up face a League B side in a play-off. Italy's Daniele Chiffi is the referee, with an all-Italian team and Luca Pairetto on VAR.

Team news

Montenegro have lost Malmö midfielder Hakšabanović with a tendon injury for all four games in September and October. Lazio full-back Adam Marušić was left out injured and left-back Andrija Ražnatović has also broken down; Vučinić has promoted Raków defender Marko Perović, born in 2006, from the under-21s and added Džonatan Drešaj of Dečić, the only home-based player in the squad. In a television interview reported on Tuesday 22 September the coach said he expected striker Aleksa Latković back in training soon. On his goalkeepers, Olympiacos's Balša Popović, Igor Nikić and Danijel Petković, he was blunt: “Sigurno da postoji problem na toj poziciji” (there's certainly a problem in that position).

Cyprus, coached by the Greek Apostolos Mantzios, were without defenders Konstantinos Laifis and Christos Sielis in training on Tuesday; both are on an individual programme and will play only if fit. Burnley's Marcus Edwards, whose mother was born in Cyprus, could make his debut. Mantzios said on 21 September: “Και τα δυο παιδιά που ήρθαν από την Αγγλία παίζουν σε υψηλό επίπεδο. Ειδικά ο Έντουαρτς” (both lads who came from England play at a high level, especially Edwards).

Montenegro vs Cyprus predicted line-ups

There is no reliable XI: by Wednesday neither Vučinić nor Mantzios, whose pre-match press conference is in Podgorica on Thursday, had given any clues. Montenegro's goalkeeping spot is open between Popović, Nikić and Petković. Vučinić has named Jovetić and Savić as his leaders and praised Atalanta's Nikola Krstović and Genoa's Milutin Osmajić, while newcomers Bodin Tomašević of Mantova and Đurić of Malmö are in contention in defence, with the coach saying that whoever impresses him will play. For Cyprus a lot depends on Laifis and Sielis, and Edwards could make his debut; Nicolas Tsaroulla of Notts County and Leonidas Konomis of Apollon are also in their first squad. The official line-ups are released about an hour before kick-off.

Head-to-head and form

Montenegro have won two and drawn three of the five meetings, scoring 9 and conceding 3: in 2009 a 2-2 in Larnaca and a 1-1 in Podgorica, where Vučinić scored Montenegro's goal, then a 0-0 friendly in 2018, and finally 2-0 in Nicosia and 4-0 in Podgorica in the 2020/21 Nations League, with three goals from Jovetić.

Montenegro won only one of their last five World Cup qualifiers, 2-1 in Gibraltar, and lost 4-0 in the Faroe Islands; Cyprus lost twice to Austria, drew with Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina and won 4-0 in San Marino. Among Montenegro's Serie A players, Adžić scored Sassuolo's stoppage-time winner in a 3-2 win over Juventus on 13 September (our call was no more than four goals, confidence 7 out of 10: wrong) and Osmajić scored for Genoa at Parma on Sunday 20 September (our call was no more than three goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct).

Our Montenegro vs Cyprus prediction

Our call is at least two goals, confidence 6 out of 10. Four of the five previous meetings produced at least two goals, as did all of Montenegro's last five competitive games and four of Cyprus's last five. The rest of the evening's fixtures are in our matchday one preview.

Every game with our calls is on the Nations League page. The record of settled calls is in the results history, and our calls on individual players are in player predictions.