Georgia vs Spain tips: La Roja to dominate tricky away trip in crucial Euro qualifier
- Sergiu Baltuta
- 7 September 2023
Scotland’s flying start has thrown Group A wide open and put pressure on favourites Spain to get a positive result from Friday’s visit to Georgia.
It promises to be an intriguing clash, and Tipstrr football expert Sergiu Baltuta takes a closer look at where he thinks the best betting value might lie.
Date, Kick-off time and TV coverage
European Championship qualifier Group A, Friday September 8, kick-off 17:00, live on Viaplay UK
Suggested bets:
Two games into their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign Spain find themselves in unfamiliar territory, sitting in fourth place in Group A behind Scotland, Georgia and Norway, albeit with games in hand.
La Roja picked up three points by beating a Haaland-less Norway 3-0 five months ago before slipping to a shock 2-0 defeat in Scotland just three days later.
Now Spain travel to Georgia, who have earned four points from their opening three games, drawing 1-1 with Norway and beating pointless Cyprus 2-1 before going down by the same 2-0 scoreline as the Spanish at Hampden Park, leaving the Scots as the surprising group leaders with a maximum 12 points from 4 games.
Georgia, now led by the former French international Willy Sagnol, have never reached the finals of a European Championship, coming closest last time when they came unstuck against North Macedonia in the qualification playoff.
While Luis de la Fuente’s Spain are a team in transition and no longer the team that dominated international football a decade or more ago, it would be a huge shock if they fail to qualify for the European Championship from next summer.
They reached the semifinals at Euro 2020, but failed to ignite at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar ten months ago when they were eliminated in the round of 32.
A changing of the guard sees former captain Jordi Alba no longer a part of the team, so the armband will be worn by striker, Alvaro Morata, who is in good form after scoring three goals in Atletico Madrid’s opening three La Liga games.
Suggested bet: Alvaro Morata to score at any time
When it comes to new arrivals in Spain’s squad we can mention Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s new sensation, who can become Spain’s youngest ever player (16 years and 54 days) if he is given some game time in Tbilisi.
The previous record belongs to his Barcelona teammate, Gavi, who made his debut when he was 17 years, two months and three days old, in the Nations League final in 2021 against Italy. Gavi now has 20 Spanish caps to his name and has already played at a World Cup.
Georgia’s attack will be led by their star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has found the net 10 times in 22 games for his country.
Giorgi Mamardashvili, from Valencia, is the number one goalkeeper and likely to start, while the defence will be led by the experienced Guram Kashia, Georges Mikautadze, who recently joined Ajax, also expected to be in the starting line-up.
There are unlikely to be any major surprises in Spain’s starting eleven, with captain Morata in line to spearhead the attacking in front of Marco Asensio, Gavi and Dani Olmo.
Dani Carvajal and Alejandro Balde will be Spain’s fullbacks while Fabian Ruiz is expected to form the midfield engine room alongside Rodri.
No trip to eastern Europe is easy these days, but with players of that quality at their disposal it is unlikely that Spain will make the same mistakes they made in Glasgow, and we expect them to get their campaign back on track with a clinical professional performance, a clean sheet and three hard-earned points.
