Both Georgia and the Czech Republic will be looking to hit the ground running in Nations League Group B1 when the pair do battle at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi on Saturday evening.
The two sides will renew hostilities after coming up against each other during the group phase of Euro 2024, with the pair playing out a 1-1 draw.
That point and their subsequent win over Portugal propelled Euro 2024 shock troops Georgia into the round of 16 where they came unstuck in a spirited defeat against eventual winners Spain, bringing up one of my bets in the process.
Following their exploits earlier this summer, Willy Sagnol’s side will look to carry that momentum into their forthcoming Nations League campaign, where they will also come up against Ukraine and Albania.
As for the Czech Republic, they will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing showing at Euro 2024, where they propped up Group F with just one point.
Manager Ivan Hasek remains in the hot seat for now but a strong Nations League showing may be needed to keep the wolves at bay.
How the bookies view it: Czechs to chalk up win
Georgia go into their Nations League opener as 9/4 underdogs on Bet 365 while the draw is an unfancied 23/10 with the same firm.
The Czech Republic are 5/4 favourites on UniBet to triumph in Tbilisi.
Head to head: Just the second-ever meeting
As already mentioned, the duo were housed in the same group at Euro 2024 where they crossed paths for the first time ever. A repeat of June’s 1-1 draw can be backed at 11/12 on Bet 365.
Players to watch: Mikautadze to make his mark again?
Georges Mikautadze's three strikes at Euro 2024 saw him finish as the joint-top scorer at the tournament. One of those goals came against the Czech Republic and a repeat here looks too big to ignore at 3/1 on Bet 365.
Patrick Schick’s only goal at Euro 2204 came against Georgia and the Czech Republic striker is 21/20 (Bet 365) to repeat the trick in Tbilisi.
Predicted line-ups
Following their brilliant showing at Euro 2024, Willy Sagnol is unlikely to make many changes to Georgia's starting XI on Saturday evening.
As tends to be the case more often than not, West Ham duo Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal are expected to play a key role for the Czech Republic in the Georgian capital.
Georgia: Mamardashvili; Dvali, Kashia, Kverkvelia; Kakabadze, Kochorashvili, Mekvabishvili, Chakvetadze, Tsitaishvili; Kvaratskhelia, Mikautadze
Czech Republic: Stanek; Holes, Hranac, Krejci; Soucek, Coufal, Barak, Provod, Doudera; Chytil, Schick
Anything else catch the eye?
Georgia represent a nice slice of value at the above-mentioned price but I’m instead going to back the hosts to score and to avoid defeat at 20/23 on Bet 365.
Having scored in each of their four matches at Euro 2024, including games with Portugal and Spain, the Crusaders demonstrated that they pack a real punch in attack.
On top of this, Sagnol's side have avoided defeat in a sizable 12 of their last 13 outings on home soil, failing to score in just two of those tussles.
Thus, the aforementioned 20/23 (Bet 365) Bet Builder holds plenty of appeal, not to mention this bet would have paid out in the pair’s Euro 2024 encounter.
This UEFA Nations League match between Georgia and Czech Republic will be played on Sep 7, 2024 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Georgia vs Czech Republic prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
