Greece vs Georgia
The Road to Qatar continues at the Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki on Wednesday when Greece welcomes Georgia for a Group B date.
Neither side has registered a victory yet, though Greece have only played one game and are on a decent run of form. But World Cup: Greece vs Georgia is a clash between two teams who know full well they only have an outside chance of escaping Group B, with European heavyweights Spain and Sweden in the mix. The group is completed by Kosovo who will also harbour dreams of gate-crashing the top two.
Whether qualification will be a distant dream for Greece and Georgia remains to be seen, but if either side were to collect all three points on Wednesday then hopes will surely rise.
Talking Points
Greece can build on solid foundations
They are playing with confidence under head coach John van’t Schip’s and Greece made a great start to their qualification campaign, earning a point in a 1-1 draw away to highly fancied Spain. The were under the cosh for much of the game, with less than 20 per cent possession and only one shot throughout the entire match. Dani Olmo had already hit the crossbar for Spain before Alvaro Morata put the hosts ahead. But substitute Inigo Martinez upended midfield man Giorgos Masouras and the referee pointed to the spot. Anastasias Bakasetas kept his cool to fire home and earn his nation a surprise point.
Despite spending very little time in their opponents’ half they limited Spain’s talented array of creative stars to just nine shots and only two on target. The experienced centre back pairing of Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Giorgos Tzavellas repelled everything which the Spanish could throw at them and Georgia will have to work hard to create openings.
According to the very latest Greece vs Georgia betting odds here at SBOTOP we reckon the Ethniki should have too much for their visitors, but it’s by no means a foregone conclusion.
Georgia not too far away
The visitor’s head coach Willy Sagnol had a distinguished playing career, earning 58 caps for France and, as one of the best wing-backs of his time; he won five Bundesligas and a UEFA Champions League medal with Bayern Munich.
He cut his managerial teeth with the French U21 team and then, via a stint at Bordeaux, he worked as assistant head coach with Die Bayern before taking over the Georgia national team in February.
Georgia have had two tough games to start their World Cup campaign and while they are yet to pick up a point they have been far from disgraced, losing 1-0 away to World Cup 2018 quarter-finalists Sweden, before succumbing at home against Spain to the odd goal in three.
It looked like Georgia were set to record their best ever result until Dani Olmo popped up to ruin their night and save Spain’s blushes. After defeat to Sweden late in the game this was a bitter pill to swallow for the Georgians, particularly as we billed it as ‘mission impossible’ for Sagnol’s boys in the run up to the game.
The frustration was too much for Levan Shengelia, who was red carded for a rash challenge on Pedri late in the game. But, when you look at the stats, Georgia gave Spain more problems than Greece had, enjoying (slightly) more possession and registering five shots to Spain’s nine and two to three on target.
History
While Georgia are relatively new to the international football scene, Greece have a rich history and were shock European Champions in 2004, beating a Portuguese side which had a young Cristiano Ronaldo and the legendary Luis Figo in their ranks. Angelos Charisteas headed in a corner from Traianos Dellas and then, true to form, the Greek defence stood firm. The result meat that Otto Rehhagel became the first non-national head coach to lead a team to victory in either the European Championship or the World Cup.
More recently Greece reached the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup.
In terms of head to head Greece vs Georgia results, there have been six meetings this century and the Greeks have won five, drawing the other.
Greece are unbeaten in eight games at home while Georgia have failed to win any of their last seven games on the road.
And a closer look at recent form, over the past six games, tells us that the Greeks have won three and drawn three while Georgia have drawn two and lost the other four.
Betting Tip
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Greece vs Georgia | Total Goals 2-3 @ 1.85 |
| April 01, 03:45 (GMT+8) |
Greece are clear favourites to win this tie at odds of 1.69 while the draw is at 3.06 and Georgia are out at 5.22, but Georgia haven’t been far away in either if the two previous games under Sagnol, and they will put up a good fight in Greece.
The double chance of Georgia or draw is available at 1.99 while for a score line 1-1 at odds of 6.12 is unlikely to be too wide of the mark.
I think both teams will see this is a chance for three points and neither will sit back as they had to do against Spain.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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