Georgia v North Macedonia tips
The Euro 2020 qualifying process is somewhat different to other European Championships by virtue of the fact that only twenty of the twenty-four spots were available by qualifying through the group stage, while the remaining four were up for grabs through the newly-founded Nations League.
It means that there have been four different “paths” created which included the quartet of Georgia, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Belarus competing for one of the spots and it has led to history being made, with the former two teams having come through close semi-final clashes to be just one game away.
Can Georgia Make History By Appearing at their First Euros?
Georgia were part of the Soviet Union for a large chunk of European Championship history and only started competing in their own right from 1996, although they now stand on the verge of qualifying for their first major tournament and have home advantage for their clash against North Macedonia.
The match will be played at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi, with Vladimir Weiss having previously done well in charge of the Slovakian team between 2008-2012 and he will look to steer this modest outfit to next summer’s big tournament even if they could end up getting outclassed by higher quality opposition.
A Tornike Okriashvili penalty was enough to help Georgia over the line against Belarus in their semi-final and the team have been proving hard to beat in recent games, with the team coming close to actually winning in North Macedonia in a recent Nations League clash and that was the fifth game without defeat.
North Macedonia Looking to Build on Win Over Kosovo
North Macedonia were called Macedonia until 2019 when the name change occurred and there is plenty to be said for the way in which they played during their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign when winning four and drawing two of their ten matches, finishing second behind Poland and Austria.
There were home wins against Slovenia, Israel and Latvia, while the team were consistently impressive away from home where they were only beaten 2-0 in Poland and 2-1 in Austria, with the team surely standing a decent chance of getting through this match behind closed doors.
What Happened When the Teams Recently Met?
Georgia and North Macedonia are in the same Nations League group right now, with both sides boasting an identical record of one win and three draws. The teams played out a 1-1 draw in Tbilisi on 8 September when the two teams both scored first-half goals and effectively cancelled each other out.
The same thing happened on 14 October when a Ezgjan Alioski penalty cancelled out an earlier goal, with the two teams clearly evenly-matched and we’re expecting another tight encounter this time around.
What Are the Best Bets for This Match?
We are expecting it to be a close encounter and can’t escape the fact that it could be a draw after ninety minutes which would lead to extra-time and possibly penalties. We think that an alternative way to play this game is bet on Under 2.5 Goals and it’s even plausible that we could back Under 1.5 Goals and land a profit.
The “No” option on the Both Teams to Score betting market could also be worth considering although given that Georgia and North Macedonia both played out 1-1 draws recently means that this could be the correct scoreline to back instead.