Georgia vs Republic of Ireland Predictions

Group D pace-setters Republic of Ireland will be aiming to prolong their excellent start to their Euro 2020 Qualification campaign when they take on a dogged Georgia outfit in Tbilisi this weekend.

Ireland are unbeaten after five matches in Group D, taking 11 points from a possible 15 overall as they aim to secure their passage the European Championship Finals for the 3^rd time in a row.

Defensively, Ireland have been incredibly robust, conceding just two goals in total across their five matches, with qualification favourites Denmark and Switzerland the only teams in Group D to breach the Irish rearguard so far.

At the other end of the pitch, Ireland’s long-standing goal-scoring problems are still as prevalent as ever however, and the Boys in Green have managed to score just six times in total in five qualification fixtures.

There is hope however that a number of emerging young talented forwards, including Tottenham’s Troy Parrott, Southampton’s Michael Obafemi and Brighton’s Aaron Connolly can make a difference in that regards, but only the last of the aforementioned trio is in Mick McCarthy’s squad this week.

Incredibly, Ireland’s 3-1 friendly win over Bulgaria in early September was the first Irish game in 11 that saw over 2.5 goals scored and overall, Ireland have averaged just 0.86 goals per game over their last 22 international fixtures.

Their opponents this week, Georgia are also severely lacking in quality in the final third. The Georgians managed to score just four times in their five Group D matches, and traditionally they have struggled to make any sort of impact in front of goal in European Championship qualifiers.

Since 2007, Georgia scored one or fewer goals in a remarkable 26 of their 30 European Championship contests, failing to score in 14 of those.

With both Georgia and Ireland united by their lack of cutting edge, it makes sense to expect a low scoring game in Tbilisi on Saturday. It’s worth noting that each of the last four meetings between the nations returned under 2.5 goals, and we think their latest clash will follow suit.

Ireland have a fine record in games against the Georgians however, winning nine and drawing one of their 10 meetings with them since 2003. With that excellent head-to-head record considered, we recommend backing the Republic of Ireland win and under 2.5 goal combination for Saturday’s game.

Ireland beat Georgia by a narrow 1-0 scoreline in three of the last four encounters between the teams, and we’re forecasting another 1-0 triumph for the Republic when the teams renew acquaintances this weekend.