Preview: Georgia vs. Greece - prediction, team news, lineups

Greece will be looking to make it back-to-back wins in Group B when they continue their World Cup 2022 qualification campaign away to Georgia on Saturday.

The visitors are currently third in the section with six points to show from four matches, while Georgia are bottom, having collected just one point from their opening five fixtures.

Match preview

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Georgia have found it difficult to compete in the section thus far, picking up just a single point from their five matches, which has left them bottom heading into their clash with Greece on Saturday.

Willy Sagnol's side opened their campaign with back-to-back losses against Sweden and Spain before claiming a draw away to Greece at the end of the March.

Georgia have since lost their last two, though, suffering a 1-0 reverse to Kosovo at the start of September before losing by four clear goals away to Spain three days later.

The Crusaders have never qualified for the finals of a World Cup, while they have only won one qualification match in each of their last three campaigns, which is an indication of the size of their task each time around.

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Greece, meanwhile, are currently third in the section, having won one and drawn three of their opening four matches to collect six points, leaving them three points behind second-placed Sweden.

The Sky Blues and Whites did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup but were present in the 2010 and 2014 editions of the tournament and actually made it to the round of 16 seven years ago.

Greece did not qualify for Euro 2016, though, meaning that they have not competed in a major tournament since the 2014 World Cup amid a period of difficulty for the national side.

John van 't Schip's side drew their opening three Group B matches against Spain, Greece and Kosovo before recording an impressive 2-1 victory at home to Sweden last time out.

Second-half goals from Anastasios Bakasetas and Vangelis Pavlidis proved enough for Greece to overcome Sweden, and Ethniki will be aiming to continue their unbeaten run of results against Georgia, having won six of the previous eight meetings between the two sides.

Team News

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Georgia boss Sagnol is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes from the side that suffered a four-goal loss to Spain last month.

There will have to be an alteration at centre-forward, though, as Giorgi Kutsia is not in the squad, so Tornike Okriashvili is expected to operate at the tip of the attack for the hosts.

It could again be a 4-5-1 formation for Georgia, with the most decorated player in the squad - Jaba Kankava - featuring in a midfield area.

As for Greece, head coach Van 't Schip is expected to name close to the same XI that recorded an impressive 2-1 victory over Sweden in Athens last month.

Zeca is not in the squad, though, so there will have to be an alteration in the middle of the park, with Petros Mantalos potentially coming into the side.

Liverpool's Kostas Tsimikas should operate in a wing-back area for Greece, while the captain Bakasetas should be joined by Pavlidis and Tasos Douvikas in the final third of the field.

Georgia possible starting lineup:
Loria; Chabradze, Kashia, Lochoshvili, Giorbelidze; Davitashvili, Mamuchashvili, Kankava, Aburjania, Kiteishvili; Okriashvili

Greece possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Chatzidiakos, Mavropanos, Tzavellas; Androutsos, Mantalos, Bouchalakis, Tsimikas; Bakasetas, Pavlidis, Douvikas

We say: Georgia 1-2 Greece

Georgia held Greece to a 1-1 draw in the reverse match back in March, and this will not be a straightforward encounter for the visitors. That said, Greece have superior quality all over the field, and we are expecting them to collect all three points in the Group B contest.