Georgia vs Serbia Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Things are predictably going poorly for Georgie in these World Cup qualifiers, and once again it seems almost inevitable that they will make it nowhere near to qualifying for the World Cup next summer.

Last time out they lost 1-0 to Jordan in a friendly in January, stretching their winless streak to six games, although that victory was their most famous achievement in their history. They managed a shock 1-0 win away to Spain in one of the pre-Euro 2016 friendlies, although this is a high anomalous result when compared with the rest of their matches.

They have won one, drawn five, and lost seven of their last 13 matches in all competitions. Only two of their positive results have been in competitive fixtures, including a very impressive 1-1 draw away to Wales and a less impressive 1-1 draw at home to Moldova. This leaves them second from bottom in the World Cup qualifying group.

At home their record does improve slightly, with three wins, two draws, and five defeats making up their last ten matches. One of these was a victory against Scotland, but the other two came against minnows Malta and Gibraltar and their draws have been against Kazakhstan and Moldova.

Serbia are a much better team than any of these opponents, and their squad includes a number of familiar faces from the Premier League. Former Chelsea man Branislav Ivanovic is the most decorated, whilst Aleksandar Kolarov is also in the back line. Zoran Tosic, Dusan Tadic, and Nemanja Matic make up part of a formidable midfield, whilst Aleksandar Mitrovic leads the line.

This didn’t help them last time out as they played out a goalless draw with the United Stages, but they have only lost one of their last ten matches and look to be on the rise after a truly dreadful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

They have won five, drawn four, and lost one of their last ten games, putting themselves 2nd in the World Cup qualifying group and just two points behind leaders Republic of Ireland. Wales and Austria are also competing for qualification though, so Serbia need to be picking up wins in games like this.

This one is Serbia’s to lose. They don’t have the best away record, but their failures to win have come against teams a lot better than Georgia. Their three recent wins away from home have all come against sides of a similar strength to Georgia, such as Moldova, Estonia, and Albania. Odds of 8/11 for Serbia to get the win look good value, so I’m backing that alongside a 2-0 correct score predictions at 11/2.