The first of two games on Tuesday afternoon sees Turkey take on surprise qualifiers Georgia, and in a group where second place (behind Portugal) looks very much up for grabs, both teams will be keen to make a positive start. Read on for our Turkey vs Georgia predictions.
Turkey vs Georgia prediction
For the Turkey vs Georgia match prediction, we believe the final score will be a 2-2 draw based on our analysis.
This looks like a good opportunity for the Turks to improve on some relatively poor recent results, but they’ve not covered themselves in defensive glory for a while, and this Georgian team can definitely play and has offensive quality, as we’ll speak about below.
Our predictions for Turkey vs Georgia, complete with analysis below:
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Score @ 3/1 with bet365
Georges Mikautadze to Score @ 4/1 with bet365
Turkey vs Georgia betting odds
Turkey vs Georgia head-to-head statistics
These two teams have not met each other since 2012, when the Turks won by three goals to one. Before that, the Georgians won 1-0 back in 2007.
Five previous renewals of this fixture have yielded three Turkish wins, one Georgian victory and a draw.
Turkey vs Georgia preview
This match will take place on 18/06/2024 at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund. Kick off will be at 17:00 GMT.
Towards the end of 2023, the Turks were looking like some serious opposition, beating Germany by three goals to two away from home.
They probably wished that this tournament had come sooner, because the Crescent Stars have since gone off the boil, winning none of their four games in 2024, scoring just two goals.
However, this remains a Turkey team full of quality. They’ve got players from Real Madrid, Internazionale, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Lille and Rennes, while those who ply their trade in Turkey for Galatasaray and Fenerbahce are far from poor players either.
They did lose their final warm-up game against the Poles, but they were far from outplayed, so don’t be surprised if they get a few results at this tournament.
As for the Georgians, well, they made history by qualifying for their first ever major tournament, defeating the Greeks in a dramatic penalty shootout to book their place in Germany.
At the end of the day, this Georgia team is the very epitome of an outsider. They’ve got close to zero chance of winning this tournament, but could they make headway in this opening game against an out-of-form Turkey team? You bet they can.
There are some hot properties amongst the Georgians, such as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who had another very strong campaign in a Napoli shirt, so much so that some of the biggest clubs on the planet are hunting his signature.
Turkey vs Georgia Betting tips
I’m not massively taken by this game from a team/general match betting point of view, but there are a couple of player-bets that grab my attention, both of which look a little generously priced at current odds.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Score
I’m going to get straight to the point here and say that Kvaratskhelia is likely to be the best player on the pitch in this game and at odds of 3/1, I’ve got to be on him to find the net.
The Georgian forward scored 11 goals in Serie A last season, while he got 12 the season before that, averaging 0.40 goals per game since signing for Napoli.
Moreover, for his nation, he’s the main man and he plays like it, often shouldering the offensive burden by delivering hungry performances.
In the Nations League back in 2022/2023, he scored five in six for the Crusaders, while he netted four in qualifying for this tournament.
Throw in that he shoots with regularity, averaging 3.50 shots per 90 minutes in a Georgia shirt (2024), not to mention 4.88 in the previously mentioned Nations League campaign, and the man likely to be the subject of a big-money move in the not so distant future stands out as a great goal-scorer bet here, at least as far I’m concerned.
Georges Mikautadze to Score
Kvaratskhelia is not the only threat that this Georgian team possesses, far from it, and I really wouldn’t be surprised if Georges Mikautadze, who impressed for a poor Metz team in Ligue 1 last season, had a say here.
To be honest, 4/1 looks big to me. Mikautadze is a proper striker, one who is greedy and who has a true finishing instinct.
The fact that he scored 14 goals in just 22 appearances for a Metz team that was far from strong in the French top flight really is impressive, and his average of 0.67 goals per 90 minutes is hard to ignore.
What I also really like about the 23-year-old is that he has lots of experience playing for the team that is considered to be the underdog, which can only aid his cause at Euro 2024.
He scored three times in qualifying, averaging 2.55 shots per 90, while his Ligue 1 average of 0.49 xG per game shouldn’t go unmentioned either. That’s enough for me to side with him here at chunky-looking odds of 4/1 with bet365.
Recap - Turkey vs Georgia betting tips
Two recommended bets ahead of this Euro 2024 match are as follows:
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Score @ 3/1 with bet365
Georges Mikautadze to Score @ 4/1 with bet365
