Georgia vs Turkey Prediction: This contest can produce goals

Georgia and Turkey get their Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign underway on Thursday (17:00 BST) when they meet at the Dinamo Arena. They last met in the group stage of Uefa Euro 2024, with Turkey prevailing 3-1 on that occasion.

Below you will find my Georgia vs Turkey predictions, accompanied by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Georgia have some excellent players in their ranks and some believe they could be about to experience their own Golden Generation. The leading men in this cause are Paris Saint-Germain's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze, who has recently joined Villarreal.

Both are likely to start this clash on the wing and up front respectively.

Liverpool's second-choice goalkeeper, Giorgi Mamardashvili, is set to feature between the sticks.

Football Odds

Turkey forward Baris Alper Yilmaz is a doubt for the match on Thursday due to personal reasons, which would be a big miss as he has had an excellent start to the season with Galatasaray - with three goals and one assist in two Super Lig matches.

After netting five goals during the Crescent-Stars' successful Uefa Nations League campaign, Kerem Akturkoglu will be hoping to fire his country to the World Cup over the next few months.

Real Madrid's Arda Guler, who was on the scoresheet when the sides last met, will be hoping for more joy in this fixture.

Georgia vs Turkey Odds

Georgia have won just one of their six clashes with Turkey to date and they are 2/1 to come out on top here.

The hosts' most recent fixture was a draw with Cape Verde, and the stalemate is marketed at 5/2.

Turkey have beaten Georgia four times and they are the 13/10 favourites to come away with the three points on Thursday.

The Crescent-Stars have won the past two meetings 3-1 and over 3.5 goals is priced at 2/1 on this occasion.

Both teams to score @ 8/13

With this being the opening fixture for both teams in this Group E qualifier, a strong start would be ideal, particularly as they share a group with reigning European champions Spain.

Georgia will hope that home advantage can play a huge role for them against a team who have bested them on four of the six occasions they have faced across all competitions.

They've lost the past two meetings by an aggregate score of 6-2 so they will look to flip the script on Thursday. The Crusaders have players of real quality who can come up with moments of brilliance in this game, while Turkey have a couple themselves.

For that reason, I think backing both teams to score seems a sensible selection here. It has struck in the previous two encounters between the two sides - as well as four of their six clashes to date.

Georges Mikautadze anytime goalscorer @ 2/1

Mikautadze is Georgia's biggest danger man coming into this contest. The striker has been in top form for his country of late. In his last four competitive appearances for the Crusaders, the front man has bagged six goals - including two braces against Armenia.

He's an exciting player because he can not only score goals but create them, too. Together, I think he and Kvaratskhelia can cause Turkey's defence all sorts of problems on Thursday.

Both occupy excellent spaces to hurt their opponents and on home turf, they should back themselves to play starring roles. Kvaratskhelia may be the favourite to find the net at 15/8, but it is Mikautadze who I am more confident in scoring. His recent record for Georgia speaks for itself.

Today's Football Fixtures

Offers

Opt in and place an In-Play single bet of £10 or more at odds of 1/2+ on any International match on Thursday and get £5 in Free Bets to use In-Play on Friday’s International Matches

Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down

You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.