There is an eight-point gap between these two Eastern European sides in Group E with Montenegro the clear favourites going into this match.
Kazakhstan are bottom of Group E after picking up just two points from their six matches so far. They can no longer qualify automatically for Russia 2018 but can still mathematically reach the playoff round. However, that looks unlikely when you consider the fact they have not won a competitive match since October 2015.
Unsurprisingly for a team bottom of the group, Goals Against has been the main problem for The Hawks with 16 conceded and just one clean sheet so far this campaign. They do have a threat going forward, as proved by the fact they scored against both Poland and Denmark, but it is not enough to counter balance their poor defence.
The Kazakhs have a poor home record with just one competitive win since June 2011. However, draws against Poland and Romania show that they are capable of causing a bit of an upset on home soil.
Montenegro managed to recover from three consecutive defeats by beating Armenia 4-1 last time out: putting them second in Group E.
Matches involving Ljubisa Tumbakovic’s side have contained a high number of goals with both teams scoring in each of their last four matches. The fact they have scored 14 and conceded seven in their six World Cup qualifying matches further demonstrates this.
The Brave Falcons have struggled on their travels in the last couple of years with five losses in their last seven away matches. However, they have started this campaign relatively well with four points taken from a possible nine and Kazakhstan should provide relatively easy opposition.
Although I expect Montenegro to come out on top, I think we could see a few goals here. ‘Montenegro to Win and Over 2.5 Goals Total‘ at 28/15 looks a good bet here as it allows for both teams to score as well as a Montenegro thrashing.