Republic of Ireland vs Georgia Predictions

The Republic of Ireland face a big game on Tuesday night as familiar foes Georgia visit Dublin for a Euro 2020 qualifier. It’s the third qualifying campaign running in which the two teams have been paired together and while the Irish have had the better of the results, all four previous meetings have been tight affairs.

Ireland were victorious in their first game back under the stewardship of Mick McCarthy on Saturday. However a 1-0 win over Gibraltar has done little to lift the general mood of negativity that surrounds Irish football at the moment. McCarthy’s return may bring back happy memories of the 2002 World Cup but he is not a miracle worker and he faces a tough challenge in trying to guide this current Irish side to Euro 2020.

Georgia’s campaign got underway with a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland. They’ll be hoping to try and take the fight to the big boys in this group but that defeat to what was an under-strength Swiss side doesn’t bode well for them. Realistically it’s almost impossible to see any way they will qualify from this group but that doesn’t mean they won’t be difficult opponents, a fact Ireland know only too well after their World Cup qualification hopes were dented by a draw in Tbilisi in the most recent meeting between the sides.

Everything here points towards a tight, low-scoring game. The two recent clashes between the sides in Dublin both ended 1-0 to the hosts and Georgia are likely to come with a cautious mentality again. Ireland’s recent games have been painful viewing at times with their last 5 matches producing just 2 goals in total. Their difficulty in trying to break down a side of Gibraltar’s calibre only adds to the sense that this could be a frustrating evening for the hosts.

They will be expected to dictate the tempo but this is an Irish side that is short on creativity and proven goalscorers at an international level. The four forwards in this squad have just one goal between them for their country and Georgia will feel they are well capable of sitting deep and keeping tight. Overall backing Under 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score – NO looks good here.

In terms of the outcome, Ireland might just nick a goal as they have done in the recent home clashes with Georgia but you wouldn’t bank on it. Prior to the Swiss game, Georgia had gone 19 internationals without losing by more than a single goal. Although they failed to win any of their 2018 World Cup qualifiers, they drew half of their games and only lost by more than a goal on one occasion in a tricky group which included Ireland, Wales, Serbia and Austria. Therefore backing Georgia +1.0 Asian Handicap could be worth considering here.

Read our Asian Handicap Guide for more on this market.