Georgia vs Czech Republic: Mikautadze back to lead Crusaders’ charge against Czechs

Georgia and the Czech Republic were Group F rivals at the European Championship in Germany this year, playing out a 1-1 draw in Hamburg on June 22. Georgia finished third, qualifying for the last 16, but the Czechs made an early exit after finishing bottom with a solitary point to their name.

The two nations have been grouped together again in the Uefa Nations League, and you can check out my Georgia vs Czech Republic prediction below ahead of this League B1 meeting in Tbilisi on Saturday (17:00).

Team News

Georgia's three biggest stars, goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili (Valencia), winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli) and striker Georges Mikautadze (Lyon), are all named in head coach Willy Sagnol's squad for their September UNL fixtures against the Czech Republic and Albania.

Mamardashvili, who made 29 saves at Euro 2024 - 11 more than the next-best, the Netherlands' Bart Verbruggen - recently agreed to a move to Liverpool. The 23-year-old is set to link up with the Premier League giants at the start of the 2025/26 season.

Mikautadze was Georgia's top scorer at the Euros with three goals and his form at the tournament secured the 23-year-old a big-money move from Metz to Lyon.

Solomon Kvirkvelia (Dinamo Tbilisi), who started the Crusaders' first two group games in Germany, has not been selected by Sagnol.

Football Odds

Czech Republic head coach Ivan Hasek elected not to call up Tomas Holes (Slavia Prague) or Antonin Burak (Fiorentina), despite the pair starting their nation's final Euro 2024 group game against Turkey in Hamburg, where Burak was sent off for two bookable offences inside the first 20 minutes.

West Ham United duo Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal are in the squad and are set to start on Saturday, but with Jindrich Stanek (Slavia Prague) injured, there will be a more unfamiliar face behind them in goal. Both Jakub Markovic (Banik Ostrava) and Adam Zadrazil (Hradec Kralove) are uncapped, so it looks like Bayer Leverkusen's reserve shot-stopper Matej Kovar will earn his fourth senior team cap in Tbilisi.

Adam Hlozek, who recently shunned a move to Leicester City in favour of Hoffenheim, will provide the flair in attack alongside Leverkusen's Patrik Schick, who has 20 goals in 40 international caps.

Georgia vs Czech Republic Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Georgia vs Czech Republic page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Georgia are 11/5 to kickstart their UNL campaign with a victory, giving them an implied win probability of 31.3%, while the Czech Republic are considered favourites at 13/10 (43.5%).

The draw is priced at 23/10, with both teams to score at 8/11, and over 2.5 total goals at 10/11.

Double Chance & Both Teams to Score - Georgia or Draw & Yes @ 8/5

Sagnol took charge of Georgia in 2021 and has overseen a golden era at the Crusaders, leading them to an unbeaten Nations League campaign and their first-ever major international tournament in Germany during the summer. The Frenchman's side suffered a 3-1 defeat to Turkey in their opening Euro 2024 game but bounced back to take a point against the Czech Republic before beating Portugal 2-0 to seal a spot in the knockouts.

The Czechs, meanwhile, won just once in their last Nations League campaign, suffering relegation as a result, and went winless at the Euros, losing 1-2 to Portugal and Turkey either side of their draw with Georgia. Their June head-to-head with the Crusaders saw Mikautadze open the scoring from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time before a second-half onslaught from Hasek's side resulted in an equaliser from Schick.

Both teams scored in all three of the Czech Republic's Euro 2024 group games and in two of Georgia's three, while the Crusaders also struck in their last-16 defeat to Spain (1-4).

With the likes of Kvaratskhelia, Mikautadze and Schick on the pitch, I'm confident there will be a goal on either side in Saturday's UNL clash, while I'm also backing the hosts to avoid defeat by taking on the double chance result.

Georgia have only lost once at home since October 2021 and that was to international heavyweights Spain last September, while the Czech's only competitive victory on their travels since the start of 2022 was a 0-3 win against the Faroe Islands in June last year.

Anytime Scorer - Georges Mikautadze @ 21/10

Mikautadze is the favourite to score anytime on Saturday but I think odds of 21/10 are still worth taking on given his recent form for Georgia.

The Lyon forward scored in four successive internationals before being denied by Spain in Cologne, and after failing to find the net in his first three Ligue 1 appearances this term, he will be desperate to get off the mark for the season in Tbilisi.

Mikautadze is Georgia's designated penalty-taker, scoring from 12 yards against the Czechs and Portugal in Germany, and with much of the focus on Kvaratskhelia, he could go under the radar on Saturday.

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