Turkey vs Montenegro Prediction: Comfortable win for the hosts

Turkey face Montenegro in the Uefa Nations League on Friday (19:45) at the Samsun 19 May Stadium, with the hosts looking to keep their unbeaten run going. After being held to a goalless draw with Wales, the Crescent-Stars responded with a 3-1 triumph over Iceland.

Montenegro have lost both their matches so far and they are in desperate need of a result here to keep their Nations League hopes alive. Read on for my Turkey vs Montenegro prediction, including match odds and team news.

Turkey vs Montenegro Odds

Turkey are 1/3, or a 75% chance to win this match. Montenegro are valued at 8/1 to pull off an upset, giving them an implied probability of 11.1% The draw can be backed at 4/1 (20%).

Both teams to score is on offer at 1/1 and over 2.5 goals is marketed at 4/6.

Turkey attacker Kerem Akturkoglu has scored three goals in the Nations League so far and he is 9/2 to open the scoring, or 7/5 to score anytime on Friday.

Football Odds

Team News 

Turkey are without their first-choice goalkeeper Mert Gunok due to injury, presenting an opportunity in between the sticks for Ugurcan Cakir. Caglar Soyuncu, Ozan Kabak, Dogan Alemdar, Cenk Ozkacar and Ismail Yuksek are also unavailable for this clash.

After serving his suspension against Iceland last time out, Galatasaray forward Baris Alper Yilmaz is available for selection against Montenegro, but it remains to be seen if he will go straight back into the starting XI.

Ferdi Kadioglu has returned to the senior set-up following his transfer to Brighton & Hove Albion over the summer, and the versatile player has been featuring regularly in the last few weeks.

Arda Guler and Hakan Calhanoglu are key players for Turkey and both are expected to start this encounter on Friday.

For Montenegro, striker Milutin Osmajic is available for selection despite being handed an eight-game suspension for Preston North End after he was found guilty of biting Blackburn Rovers' Owen Beck last month.

Veteran Stevan Jovetic could be in line to start as he is just seven appearances away from becoming the most-capped player in history for Montenegro. Vladimir Jovovic and Milos Brnovic's partnership in the middle of the park should be uninterrupted for this clash.

If Driton Camaj is deployed on the right wing again, we could see Adam Marusic come in at right-back against the Crescent-Stars.

Turkey to win to nil @ 11/10

With a chance to extend their gap at the top of League B Group 4, Turkey will be looking to pick up a second successive victory when Montenegro come to visit. The Crescent-Stars showed their quality in front of goal against Iceland, with Akturkoglu netting a hat-trick, but there are many players in their squad who can help share the goal burden.

Yilmaz will be a big boost after coming back from his suspension, and then there is Guler and Calhanoglu, with the latter posing a threat from range with set-pieces and open play.

They improved drastically from their draw with Wales, in which they didn't create very much. They did, however, limit Wales to just one shot on target from their 15 efforts, while Iceland could only register one shot on target against them last time out.

Turkey's defence have been strong over the last two games, and I think they should have no real issues with keeping Montenegro quiet on Friday night. I think they can win this game to nil, while scoring a few goals for themselves given the quality they have in forward areas.

Kerem Akturkoglu anytime goalscorer @ 7/5

After scoring a hat-trick against Iceland last time out, Akturkoglu will be raring to go again on the international stage. After swapping Galatasaray for Benfica last month, the 25-year-old has looked impressive in his new surroundings.

Akturkoglu has scored two goals in as many games in the Champions League, while he also has four goal involvements in as many Primeira Liga appearances this season. He is full of confidence at the moment and we are continuing to see this in his play for both club and country.

He will have a big role to play for Turkey again over the next couple of days, and he will have a great chance to extend his Nations League tally against a side that have conceded five goals already.

Montenegro's back line have very little confidence, on the other hand, so he can profit from this with his wizardry on the left flank. I'm backing him to find the back of the net for the second successive game on Friday.

Offers

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