On Friday night, Bulgaria and Montenegro kick off their quest for Euro 2024 qualification as the pair meets in Group G of qualifying.
The home team heads into this qualifying opener in high spirits after mounting an unbeaten run of six games of late in all competitions.
🇧🇬💪 Националният отбор на България започна подготовката си преди старта на квалификациите за Евро 2024 и първите мачове срещу Черна гора и Унгария!🆕👕 Футболистите на селекционера Младен Кърстаич направиха дебютна тренировка с новата екипировка на @MacronSports 😍 pic.twitter.com/QmhLzEZ2Ve— Team Bulgaria (@Team_Bulgaria) March 20, 2023
🇧🇬💪 Националният отбор на България започна подготовката си преди старта на квалификациите за Евро 2024 и първите мачове срещу Черна гора и Унгария!🆕👕 Футболистите на селекционера Младен Кърстаич направиха дебютна тренировка с новата екипировка на @MacronSports 😍 pic.twitter.com/QmhLzEZ2Ve
A goalless draw against Luxembourg in a friendly last time out ended a three-game winning run, although it did see Bulgaria keep a third straight clean sheet. In fact, the home team has now conceded just once in their last five international outings.
Bulgaria will be hoping that they can take their recent good form into Euro 2024 qualifying, as they have a poor recent record in qualifying, winning just one of their last nine games.
The poor recent record in qualifying includes winning just two of their last 14 European Championship qualifiers. To make matters worse, Bulgaria has suffered three defeats in their previous four home qualifiers, conceding at least three goals in each loss.
Unlike their hosts, the visitor's recent form has been poor, as they go into this game on the back of a four-match winless run in international football, including suffering three defeats and picking up just one draw.
Last time out, Montenegro suffered a 1-0 friendly loss against Slovenia, which saw them fail to score for a third time in four internationals.
Montenegro’s recent record in European qualifying has been woeful, as they have failed to win in their last ten qualifiers, suffering seven defeats in the run. They have also kept five straight clean sheets in European Championship qualifying.
The visitors are winless in their previous five away qualifiers, having also won just once in their last 13 away matches in qualifying for the European Championships.
Forebet predicts that this will be a close affair, ending in a low-scoring encounter.