Georgia vs Ukraine Prediction: Mudryk to cause more consternation for Kakabadze

Everything is still up for grabs in Group B1 of the Uefa Nations League with just three points separating leaders Czech Republic and bottom-placed Ukraine heading into the final two rounds this month. Second-placed Georgia, level on points with Albania, host Ukraine at the Adjarabet Arena in Batumi on Saturday (17:00, Viaplay International YouTube), looking to avenge their 1-0 defeat to the Blue and Yellow in Poznan, Poland last month.

Below is my Georgia vs Ukraine prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Georgia's main men, Valencia shot-stopper Giorgi Marmadashvili, Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Olympique Lyonnais' Georges Mikautadze, are all available for this month's Nations League fixtures with Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

However, Empoli defender Saba Goglichidze, who has made one Nations League appearance in this campaign and was called up for last month's squad, suffered an injury in his side's 1-1 draw with Lecce last Friday and has been forced to withdraw from international duty; Dinamo Tbilisi's Aleksandre Kalandze has been called up as cover by head coach Willy Sagnol.

Football Odds

Ukraine are once again without Real Madrid deputy goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, although Benfica number one Anatoliy Trubin has been Serhiy Rebrov's man between the sticks since Lunin's disastrous display in the Blue and Yellow's Euro 2024 opener against Romania on June 17, when they lost 3-0 in Munich, Germany.

Rebrov will also be without injured Girona winger Viktor Tsygankov, who hasn't featured for his country since September due to an injury suffered in his club side's 3-2 Uefa Champions League defeat to Feyenoord on October 2.

Captain Andriy Yarmolenko also misses out on another national team squad following a month-long injury lay-off, although he did return to action for Dynamo Kyiv at the start of the month and scored in the Ukrainian side's 2-1 win over Polissya Zhytomyr last Sunday.

AS Roma striker Artem Dovbyk recently underwent an MRI scan on a previously problematic knee but has been cleared to play this weekend and is likely to get the nod up top ahead of Olympiakos' Roman Yaremchuk.

Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk, meanwhile, will be looking to repeat last month's feat of scoring the winner against Georgia.

Georgia vs Ukraine Odds

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

Georgia are 13/8 to return to winning ways on Saturday, giving the Crusaders an implied probability of 38.1%, while Ukraine are 7/4, or a 36.4% chance, to do the double over their opponents.

The draw is priced at 11/5, both teams to score at 5/6, and over 2.5 total goals at 6/5.

Dobvyk and Kvaratskhelia (both 21/10) are considered the game's most likely anytime goalscorers, followed by Yaremchuk (23/10) and Mikautadze (12/5).

Double Chance & Both Teams to Score - Georgia or Draw & Yes @ 6/4

Georgia and Ukraine are at opposite ends of the form table, the former having lost their last two games after winning their first couple. Ukraine, meanwhile, bounced back from September defeats to Albania (1-2) and the Czech Republic (3-2) to beat Georgia and hold the Czechs to a 1-1 draw in Wroclaw, Poland.

The pressure remains on Ukraine, though, as Rebrov's side need to win to keep alive their chances of winning the group, while even a draw would be a disappointing result as it would still leave them bottom heading into next week's final round.

Georgia will be looking to take all three points as well to give themselves a solid chance of finishing first ahead of a final-day trip to Prague to take on the Czech Republic next week.

This all sets us up nicely for an entertaining encounter in Batumi, where I think we could see a couple of goals, at least one on either side.

BTTS - Yes has only landed once in a Georgia game so far - their opening-round 4-1 victory over the Czechs - but Ukraine have seen both teams score in three of their four group matches - the 1-0 win over Georgia proving to be the outlier.

Both teams to score on Saturdays pays out at 5/6 with Betfred but to take us over EVS and up to 6/4, I'm adding in the double chance result on the hosts, who will be desperate to avoid three straight defeats.

The Crusaders showed their class in the summer when they drew 1-1 with the Czechs and beat Portugal en route to the last 16 of the European Championships, where they led against eventual champions Spain before succumbing to a 4-1 defeat in Cologne.

Last month didn't go according to plan for Sagnol but I think he'll be rallying the troops to make sure that they put in a much-improved display this time around, and I fancy them to at least avoid defeat against Ukraine on home soil.

Player to Receive a Card - Otar Kakabadze (GEO) @ 12/5

Otar Kakabadze was an ever-present in Georgia's successful Euro 2024 campaign and the Cracovia right-back has started all four of his country's Nations League games so far, being substituted in the 75th minute at home to the Czechs before playing the duration of the 1-0 win in Albania, the 1-0 defeat to Ukraine in Poland, and the 1-0 home loss to Albania last time out.

The 29-year-old is yet to be booked in the competition, despite averaging 1.8 fouls per game, committing one, two, three, and one, respectively, against the Czech Republic (H), Albania (A), Ukraine (N), and Albania (H).

All three of his fouls against Ukraine came in the second half and all of his offences were committed against the same opponent - the game's only goalscorer, Mudryk, who was fouled four times in total. The Chelsea winger was also fouled five times by the Czechs in Prague and twice by the same opponents in Poland and is being fouled an average of 3.7 times per game in the UNL

Kakabadze can consider himself fortunate not to have gone in the referee's notebook last month, but he may not be so lucky this time around.

Mudryk hasn't exactly set the Premier League alight since moving from Shakhtar to Chelsea in January 2023, but he's still an important player for his national team, who rely on the 23-year-old to provide pace and directness in attack.

I expect Mudryk to bring his A-game again on the international stage and that could spell danger for Kakabadze, who may be forced to take alternative action in a bid to stop the big-money Blues signing from bearing down on goal.

Offers

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