Gibraltar vs Georgia Predictions

On Tuesday evening, Gibraltar welcome Georgia to Victoria Stadium, where the minnows will be hoping not only to pick up their first points of the campaign but to score their first goal. The Georgians will be looking for a second win over Gibraltar having won the reverse fixture by three goals to nil.

It’s been a predictably poor qualifying campaign for Gibraltar, who’re currently ranked 197^th by FIFA. Tuesday’s hosts have picked up zero points and have scored zero goals. At the other end, they’ve shipped a rather dismal 16.

It’s clear for all to see that Gibraltar, who haven’t found the net since notching against Armenia nine matches ago, don’t offer a forward threat, but they have frustrated teams at times. In two games against Ireland, Gibraltar showed that they can get men behind the ball and frustrate; their efforts at home against the Irish were particularly pleasing, as they lost by just a goal to nil. They also come into this match having lost just 1-0 in a travelling friendly against Kosovo. Such efforts should mean that Julio Ribas’ men fancy themselves to keep the score respectable against the Georgians.

Georgia aren’t quite in Gibraltar’s predicament, as they’re still in with a mathematical chance of qualifying, but if we’re being brutally honest, they may as well be. Then again, maybe not. They could still finish third, which would leave them in with a chance of qualifying as one of the best losers.

What Georgia have done that Gibraltar haven’t is turn frustrating teams into draws rather than narrow losses. Vladimir Weiss’ men come into this fixture off the back of consecutive 0-0 draws against Denmark and Ireland. In both of those matches, Tuesday’s visitors showed resilience, while they also proved that they can restrict teams, which is encouraging, though perhaps not hugely relevant ahead of a match against a side that does next to no attacking.

The main problem that the Georgians have had in qualifying is that they lack both creativity and end-product. They did score three in the reverse of this fixture, but they’ve scored in just one of their other five Group D matches. They’re also averaging a measly 0.66 expected goals for.

When it comes to betting, Gibraltar are usually fancied to lose heavily, though on this occasion, there may just be a smidgen of value to be had by backing them to avoid a drubbing. At the prices, ‘Gibraltar +2 Asian Handicap’, which returns as a winner in the event of anything less than a two-goal win for the visitors and a refund if Georgia win by two, looks a good option for those looking to invest.

For all Gibraltar have struggled, their defensive efforts against Ireland, coupled with Georgia’s rather weak attacking efforts against pretty much everyone in Group D, suggest that the hosts have a better chance of avoiding a battering than the current odds would lead us to believe.