Netherlands will lock horns with Montenegro in the matchday 5 of the 2022 World Cup qualifying Group G at the Philips Stadion on Saturday. The kick-off is at 20:45 CEST.

Preview

Both sides will be desperate for points in their first-ever meeting as they are now level on points in their 2022 WC qualifying group. While the Netherlands were rather sensationally defeated by Turkey 4-2 in their Group G opener, Montenegro kicked off their crusde to Qatar with back-to-back wins over Latvia (2-1) and Gibraltar (4-1) in March. Oranje, however, went on to bounce back in consecutive victories over Latvia (2-0) and Gibraltar (7-0) during the spring international break. The Brave Falcons, on the contrary, suffered a narrow loss to Norway in the matchday 3.

The forthcoming opponents continued their respective runs in the World Cup qualifying campaign in a similar fashion this week as the Netherlands shared points with Norway (1-1) in Louis van Gaal's first game following his last month's return to the dugout on Wednesday while Miodrag Radulovic's side registered a 2-2 draw in Turkey on the same day.

Team news

While Van Gaal has a fully fit squad for this encounter, Radulovic will have to cope with the absence of veteran striker Stevan Jovetic on Saturday as the Hertha Berlin hitman is out with an injury.

Prediction

With Norway facing Latvia on the same day, taking all three points on Saturday will be vital for both the Netherlands and Montenegro in their hopes of catching the Turks at the top of Group G. Since the Brave Falcons will travel to Eindhoven on the back of a four-game winless streak, we do expect Oranje to celebrate Van Gaal's return with a home victory on the weekend. Moreover, we'd stick with a clean-sheet win for the hosts as Radulovic's crop will be without their arguably best player in modern history this time around.

Tip

Netherlands to win to nil at 1.86 with 1XBET.