Georgia vs Bulgaria Prediction: Crusaders to take down Lions in Tbilisi

Georgia got off to a losing start in their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign last Thursday, as Turkey beat the Crusaders 3-2 at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, which is the venue for their second Group E game, against Bulgaria on Sunday (14:00 BST). The Lions are also point-less, having lost 3-0 at home to Spain.

Below are my Georgia vs Bulgaria predictions, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this qualifier in Tbilisi.

Team News

Georgia were 3-0 down at home to Turkey after 52 minutes on Thursday, so head coach Willy Sagnol could make a few alterations to his starting XI against Bulgaria.

Nika Gagnidze came on at the start of the second half against the Crescent-Stars for Georgiy Tsitaishvili, so that's one potential change.

Football Odds

Georgia's big guns, Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, Paris Saint-Germain winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Villarreal forward Georges Mikautadze, will all start again on Sunday.

Bulgaria boss Ilian Iliev could make several changes to the starting XI that lined up against Spain in Sofia.

Vasil Panayotov, Fabiaan Nurnberger, Aleksandar Kolev, Radoslav Kirilov and Ivaylo Chochev are all in danger of demotions, with all five substituted on Thursday - Panayotov was even withdrawn at half-time.

Today's Football Fixtures

Marin Petkov, Rosen Bozhinov, Vladimir Nikolov, Martin Minchev and Georgi Milanov all came off the bench against La Roja and will be in the mix to start on Sunday.

Kiril Despodov, who is the leading goalscorer in the squad with 15, was an unused substitute in midweek, but he could get the call-up from the off against Georgia.

Georgia vs Bulgaria Odds

Georgia are 4/11 to get points on board with a victory, implying a 73.3% probability of success, while Bulgaria are 9/1, or a 10% chance, to do the same and get themselves out of their six-game winless run. The draw is priced at 18/5, and both teams to score at 11/8.

Anytime Goalscorer - Zuriko Davitashvili (GEO) @ 21/10

Kvaratskhelia (11/10) and Mikautadze (6/5) are the obvious candidates to score anytime for Georgia, but the value, in my opinion, lies with St. Etienne's Zuriko Davitashvili, who scored his seventh international goal - in 47 appearances - on Thursday.

The 24-year-old hadn't found the net for his nation since October 2023, but a strong start to the season in Ligue 2, scoring in two of his three starts, looks to have fuelled the forward with belief, and he made no mistake when presented with a golden opportunity against Turkey to make it three goals in his last four games for club and country.

Davitashvili should start again on Sunday, making him an attractive option to strike at 21/10.

Match Result & Total Goals Over/Under 2.5 - Georgia & Over 2.5 @ 6/5

Georgia's last four competitive fixtures have produced 3+ goals, and Sagnol's side emerged triumphant from two, beating Armenia 3-0 (A) and 6-1 (H) in their Uefa Nations League play-off in March.

Bulgaria have seen their last three competitive contests end with exactly three strikes, and they've been on the losing end in all three. Like Georgia, the Lions were involved in a Nations League play-off earlier this year, but they lost 2-1 in both legs to the Republic of Ireland, while Spain strolled to an easy 3-0 win in Thursday's World Cup qualifier.

I wouldn't rule out the visitors scoring on Sunday, as before playing the European Champions earlier this week, they had found the net in four consecutive non-friendly fixtures, while Georgia have conceded in six of their last seven.

Backing a home win and over 2.5 goals is the safer bet, in my opinion, as Georgia could win 3-0 themselves on Sunday, with Kvaratskhelia and Mikautadze running riot in Tbilisi.

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