Lithuania vs Montenegro

Montenegro’s hopes of reaching their first major international tournament could be on the line when they take on Euro 2024 qualifying Group G whipping boys Lithuania at the S. Dariaus ir S. Girėno stadionas in Kaunas.

Though they’ve only played three matches in Group G thus far, Lithuania could be on course for their second winless Euro qualifying campaign on the trot after managing just one point across those outings (D1, L2). While they stood no chance against the section pacesetters Serbia and Hungary, Edgaras Jankauskas’ men wasted a decent chance to get into the win column in a gut-wrenching 1-1 home draw against Bulgaria on day two. That result is part of Lithuania’s disappointing seven-game winless run on home turf (D4, L3 – 90mins only). A lack of firepower saw the Lithuanians draw a blank in four of those seven games, netting precisely once in the other three. That hardly bodes well for their quest to avenge a dreadful 4-1 defeat in their only previous home clash against Montenegro.

However, that triumph dates back to 2018, with Montenegro looking quite different five years on. Since a 1-0 win at Bulgaria in their opening qualifying fixture, the ‘Brave Falcons’ have gone winless in their remaining three Group H outings (D1, L2), failing to get on the scoresheet twice in that period. Patience could be crucial to Montenegro’s effort to bounce back from an embarrassing 4-1 home loss to the Czech Republic last time out, considering both goals they’ve scored during the ongoing qualifying cycle have arrived beyond the 65th minute. The visitors’ ‘all or nothing’ approach has seen none of their last nine international travels end level (W3, L6) since an action-packed 2-2 draw at Turkey in September 2021!