Player Focus: Montenegro Statistical Scout Report

As England prepare to take on top-of-the-group Montenegro in Podgorica tonight, WhoScored.com take a look at two key areas of the Balkan teams' first eleven, where there will be some familiar faces who currently ply their trade in Europe's top 5 leagues.

Central Defence

Montenegro's first choice central defensive pairing are well known to followers of the Premier League, Serie A and Ligue 1. Former Manchester City defender - currently of Fiorentina - Stefan Savic will take to the field against some of his former City teammates, alongside Lille's Marko Basa, as the Eastern Europeans seek to shut out their opponents for the fifth consecutive game tonight. That centre-back partnership has been key to Montenegro having gone 395 minutes without conceding and climbing to the top of Group H.

Whilst their impressive run should be taken with a pinch of salt - 2 of their last 4 games have been home and away ties against San Marino - their centre-backs are playing regularly for teams in the top 6 of their respective leagues and have both played in the Champions League in the last 2 seasons. The consistency with which Savic and Basa have featured this season is more than can be said of England's likely centre-back pairing of Smalling and Lescott, who have rather fallen into starting berths by process of elimination rather than choice on Hodgson's part.

When at City, Savic was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons remarkably more often than for his footballing abilities, all too regularly cited as being at fault when mistakes were made. At Fiorentina, though, he seems to have matured as a defender and the errors have been reduced within his game. In 13 Premier and Champions League appearances for City last term, Savic was culpable with 3 errors leading directly to chances for the opposition; in 20 Serie A appearances this season, he has only committed one such error. Playing alongside Basa, who is one of only 10 regular Ligue 1 centre-backs yet to gift a single chance to an opponent this season, Savic should keep his cool.

Whilst the two are both of similar heights and very strong in the air (Savic has won 70.8% of his aerial duels this season and Basa 74.6%), England may find a weakness in their distribution. As can be seen in the 'Style of Play' sections on their respective player pages, both prefer to 'play short passes' and thus have fantastic according pass success rates (Savic 88.3%, Basa 90.4%). At club level, though, both rely on a ball-playing central midfielder to drop deep and collect possession from them - generally Pizarro for Fiorentina and Mavuba or Gueye for Lille - and they usually leave long ball duties to their centre-back partner, who, in the case of both teams, completes more accurate long balls per game. If Hodgson's men can press high up the pitch and force Savic and Basa into playing the ball long, not only would it play into the hands of Lescott and Smalling, but it could also force Montenegro, and their centre-backs in particular, into a game that goes against their natural inclinations and manager's plans.

Strikers

When it comes to Montenegro's frontline, however, Mirko Vucinic and Stevan Jovetic certainly pose England something of a threat. The former has established himself as Juventus' first choice forward since the turn of the year, with the likes of Giovinco, Quagliarella and Matri vying to start alongside the 29 year old rather than in his place of late. Meanwhile, in Florence, Jovetic is the face of the new look Fiorentina side that look set for great things under Vincenzo Montella, despite constant interest from Vucinic's employers and those further afield, in the Premier League in particular.

It's fair to say both have similar qualities and neither represents your traditional number 9, both having played from wide areas and as a second striker in their respective careers. The younger of the two, Jovetic, who very much carries the burden of a nation's footballing future on his shoulders, is adaptable in that he can play off a target man - in his case Luca Toni - or in front of a creative type like Adem Ljajic, as he did at club level.

In that sense he has similar qualities to England's main man Wayne Rooney, while Vucinic is also not a prolific goalscorer, often preferring to drop deep and create chances like the United man. A look at the statistical characteristics of the trio (above) also confirms the similarities between the key attacking threats that will be on display in Podgorica on Tuesday. Interestingly. the only strength that Wayne Rooney does not possess that both of the Montenegrin pairing do is 'dribbling', with Vucinic and Jovetic perhaps a little more cultured than the raw talent of the Englishman.

Despite playing in a deeper role than the home side’s duo for much of this season, however, Rooney has still managed to score 12 goals, and while Jovetic can match that figure Vucinic has just 7 in Serie A. The England man has a better conversion rate (15.8%) than either Jovetic (12.8%) or Vucinic (10%) in turn, and has also registered the most assists of the three (9). The stats suggest that the 23 year old Fiorentina forward is the main threat to the visitors though, as he averages more shots (3.92) and key passes (2.17) per game than the other two here.

 
While Rooney will have to break down what looks a solid defensive pairing for the hosts, England’s main worry is likely to be how Lescott and Smalling – both 4th choice centre-backs for their respective clubs – can keep out a classy Montenegro front two.