Georgia vs Scotland Prediction: Injury-hit Scots to fall short?

With qualification to Euro 2024 already secured, Scotland will now target top spot in Group A.

Steve Clarke’s men travel to Georgia on Thursday, with kick-off at 17:00. Below we take a look at the betting markets and preview this international qualifier.

Team News

Lawrence Shankland has been called up to the Scotland squad to replace the injured Che Adams after scoring five in five for Hearts and he will hope to make an appearance given qualification is already secured. Lydon Dykes and Jacob Brown are the other forwards in the squad but Clarke has several injury issues to deal with. 

Captain Andrew Robertson and his fellow defenders Kieran Tierney, Aaron Hickey and John Souttar plus goalkeeper Angus Gunn and striker Kevin Nisbet are all absent. For Georgia, star man Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is fit to play a big part in this one. 

Match Odds

Scotland are 23/20 to win this match while the home side are 12/5. A draw can be backed at 23/10, over 2.5 goals is 8/11 and BTTS is 4/5.

Georgia to win @ 12/5

The 7-1 home defeat aside, Georgia have actually been fairly competitive in this group. They’ve beaten Cyprus home and away and unfortunately just come up short in narrow losses to both Scotland and Norway away from home. However, they face an injury-ravaged Scotland side who are missing their captain and key forward, and no longer have the pressure of qualification on their shoulders. 

It’s a free hit for Georgia, who also boast an impressive home record. They’ve lost just one out of their last ten games in Tbilisi and Scotland may be caught by surprise by their hosts. With the likes of Kvaratskhelia coming up against a makeshift defence, I like the look of the 12/5 on offer for the home side to stun Steve Clarke’s men. 

Under 2.5 goals @ 8/11

Although the home side can certainly win this match, I’m not expecting a classic. Without their number nine, Scotland could find themselves blunted, while they only managed a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture. Georgia also only conceded two against Erling Haaland and Norway, and have kept clean sheets in their last two outings. 

All things considered, I’m leaning towards under 2.5 goals for the second pick at 8/11, while you can combine Georgia to win and under 2.5 goals to get a longer price of 11/2.

Check out our Euro 2024 Betting Tips here.