Georgia vs Austria Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Georgia are coming into this match on the back of undoubtedly their most famous result in their history. They were scheduled to play Slovakia, Romania and Spain in the warm up friendlies before Euro 2016. They lost 3-1 to Slovakia and 5-1 to Romania, results which certainly didn’t bode well for a clash with the European champions Spain. However, the Spanish just couldn’t find the net and Okriashvili nicked a famous win for Georgia with their only shot on target.

This 1-0 victory ended a run of six games without a win for Georgia, but unfortunately for them there is still very little chance that they can qualify for a major tournament. This was a freak result, and they will need plenty of them if they are to make it through qualifying.

They finished Euro 2016 qualifying second from bottom in their group with nine points from their ten games, six of which came from the pointless Gibraltar. This left them nine points adrift of a playoff spot and 12 off automatic qualification. There is just one automatic qualifying spot in the World Cup qualifying groups, and they would have to beat the likes of Serbia, Wales, Austria and Republic of Ireland to that.

Austria were tipped for big things in France in the summer. They had topped their qualifying group with a very impressive 28 points from a possible 30 and were drawn in a relatively unpredictable group of Hungary, Portugal and Iceland.

They opened the tournament with a shock 2-0 defeat to the plucky Hungary and followed it with a drab goalless draw against Portugal. Iceland then stole the win in the final group game to send Austria home far earlier than they would have hoped.

Focus now switches onto World Cup qualification though, and it’s anything but an easy task for them. Wales and Republic of Ireland both impressed in the summer and will be vying it out with Austria for the top spot and the possible playoff spot of 2nd.

Austria may have under-performed in France, but their record in qualifying can’t be ignored. They have won each of their last seven away games and won all of them in Euro 2016 qualifying. Georgia don’t have the worst home record, but their wins and draws have largely come against vastly inferior opposition to Austria. They have lost to Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Republic of Ireland and Finland in recent years.

This makes odds of 19/20 for an Austria Win look good value to me, and I’m backing this along with a 2-0 correct score prediction at 13/2.