Turkey vs Georgia Prediction & Betting Tips (18 June)

Even if it is announced as a dangerous and difficult nation to play against at each international meeting, Turkey is still struggling to find a place in the elite of European football. Absent from the 2022 World Cup, as since the 2002 edition, Turkey, on the other hand, validated its ticket for Germany, in order to compete in its 3rd European Championship in a row. With 17 points collected in 8 matches, the Turks beat Croatia, Wales, Armenia and Latvia, taking first place in Group D of the qualifiers. Be careful though with recent friendly results which worry all the Red people, like the performances delivered during the defeats against Hungary 0-1 and Austria 6-1. They then turned their backs by holding off Italy 0-0 before losing to Poland at the start of last week 2-1. For their part, Georgia will take part in the first major international competition in its history.

Like Iceland, the Georgian team reached the play-offs even though they finished 4th in their qualifying group, behind Spain, Scotland and Norway. It is thanks to their good results in the Nations League that the Crusaders took the place of Haaland and his teammates in the play-off. And the Crusaders didn't miss their chance! After defeating Luxembourg 2-0 in the first shock, the Georgians fought to the end against the Greeks, and validated their qualification on penalties despite the fact that they played outnumbered for 45 minutes. Last weekend, Willy Sagnol's men won their one and only preparation match against Montenegro 1-3 in order to get started for this Euro.

Turkey deplores the withdrawals of the important winger passed by Marseille Cengiz Ünder (Fenerbahce, 16 goals in 51 sel) and the striker Enes Ünal (Bournemouth, 3 goals in 33 sel). Furthermore, defenders Söyüncü (Fenerbahçe, 55 sel) and Ridvan Yilmaz (Rangers, 7 sel) and Bournemouth striker Enes Ünal (33 sel) are also injured, as is executive Kabak (Hoffenheim, 26 sel) who is is injured against Italy in a friendly match and will forfeit the tournament. Otherwise, the coach can count on his usual executives. We are thinking first of all about playmaker Calhanoglu (Inter, 18 goals in 85 seasons) who had a very good season with his club. He should be associated with the excellent midfielder Salih Özcan (Dortmund, 17th selection). In the offensive domain, winger Aktürkoglu (Galatasaray, 5 goals in 28 seasons) played an important role during the qualifiers. To occupy the forefront of the attack, the experienced Cenk Tosun (Besiktas, 20 goals in 50 sels) is balanced with Baris Alper Yilmaz (Galatasaray, 1 goal in 14 sels). The very promising offensive players Arda Güler (Real Madrid, 1 goal in 6 seasons) and Kenan Yildiz (Juventus, 1 goal in 6 seasons) could prove themselves at international level.

 Present at the last gathering, defenders Mamuchashvili (Dinamo Batumi, 10 sel) and Sazonov (Torino, 3 sel) were not called up for the Euro. This is also the case for the experienced midfielder passed by Reims Kankava (38 years old, Slovan Bratislava, 101 sel). Coach Willy Sagnol took advantage of the advent of a promising generation to qualify Georgia. The headliner is obviously Naples winger Kvaratskhelia (15 goals in 30 games). We also find the goalkeeper Mamardashvili (Valencia, 18 sel), the excellent Metz striker Mikautadze (10 goals in 25 sel) and the influential Chakvetadze (Watford, 8 goals in 25 sel). Bordeaux winger Davitashvili (6 goals in 35 games) is also present.