Georgia vs Hungary – Free Football Prediction – Nov 14

Georgia vs Hungary: no Kvaratskhelia, no goals, and a Hungary side two wins from League A

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Barcelona on 20 October, and Georgia meet Hungary on Saturday without the player their attack is built around. He isn’t in the 26-man squad named on 5 November, and he won’t be back for a long time.

The timing couldn’t be much worse for Georgia. They’re bottom of League B Group 2 with two points from four games, and they haven’t scored in any of them. The two draws came against Ukraine and Northern Ireland, both 0-0, and the two defeats were both by a single goal.

Kick-off at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi is on Saturday 14 November at 17:00 UK time. Northern Ireland host Ukraine later the same evening, and the group finishes on 17 November with Hungary at home to Northern Ireland and Ukraine against Georgia in Kosice.

Hungary are second on seven points, one behind Northern Ireland. Win in Tbilisi and at home to Northern Ireland and they go up to League A as group winners. Marco Rossi’s side lost their opening game 1-0 at home to Ukraine, drew 0-0 in Belfast, then won their last two, 1-0 against Georgia and 2-1 in Trnava against Ukraine.

The earlier meeting between these two came at the Puskas Arena on 2 October. Milos Kerkez scored with a first-half header, Hungary held on, and Georgia went home with nothing. Kerkez was booked that night and missed the Ukraine game through suspension, but he’s back in the squad for this one.

The bookmakers have Hungary at 2.25, the draw at 3.20 and Georgia at 3.20. Those prices put Georgia closer to Hungary than a side with no goals in four games and no Kvaratskhelia should be.

Georgia: four games, 360 minutes, zero goals

Georgia’s campaign started with a defeat that set the tone. Northern Ireland won 1-0 in Tbilisi on 25 September with a Shea Charles goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time, and before that Kvaratskhelia had a VAR penalty saved by Pierce Charles. That was the closest Georgia have come to scoring in the group.

Three blanks followed. They drew 0-0 with Ukraine, lost 1-0 in Budapest and drew 0-0 in Belfast on 5 October, when Isaac Price missed a penalty for the hosts. Georgia’s defence has conceded only two goals in four games, so the problem is entirely at the other end.

Ramaz Svanadze, who previously coached the under-21s, now picks the team. His squad keeps Giorgi Mamardashvili in goal and Georges Mikautadze up front, with Giorgi Chakvetadze, Giorgi Kochorashvili, Giorgi Tsitaishvili and Zuriko Davitashvili behind him. Otar Kiteishvili isn’t in the squad, and there are first call-ups for Kalichava, Maisuradze and Moistrapishvili.

Without Kvaratskhelia, the creative load falls on Davitashvili and Chakvetadze, with Mikautadze and Heidenheim’s Zivzivadze as the likely front two. Mikautadze is Villarreal’s striker and Georgia’s most experienced international scorer in this squad, and he’s still waiting for a first goal of the campaign.

The table doesn’t leave much room. Georgia are two points behind Ukraine, and they finish in Kosice against the same Ukraine side. Anything less than a point here would leave them needing a win on the last night just to move off the bottom.

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Hungary: Szoboszlai fit again, and Sallai and Varga back from injury

Rossi named 27 players on 3 November, and the headline is Dominik Szoboszlai. The Liverpool midfielder is fit again after an injury lay-off and travels with Kerkez, his club team-mate. Roland Sallai of Galatasaray and AEK’s Barnabas Varga are both back after injuries of their own.

There are three absentees. Alex Toth of Bournemouth, Milan Toth and Tamas Szucs are all injured. Milan Toth’s loss is the most direct one, because he scored the opener in Trnava on 5 October, on 52 minutes, before Yaremchuk equalised and Csinger won it with five minutes left.

Hungary’s three goals in this group have come from three different players: Kerkez, Milan Toth and Csinger. None of them is a striker. Varga’s return gives Rossi a centre-forward who can hold the ball up, and that’s been missing in a group where Hungary have scored only three times in four games.

Willi Orban of Leipzig and Csinger, now at Groningen, have been the base of a defence that’s conceded twice. The only goal Hungary let in at home was Sikan’s header before half-time on matchday one, and they’ve kept clean sheets in two of their three games since.

Before September, Hungary’s last game was a 3-1 friendly win over Kazakhstan on 9 June. Two wins in their last two competitive games have taken them from bottom half to a point off the top, and a third would leave the group in their hands going into the Northern Ireland game.

Probable lineup Georgia: Mamardashvili; Goglichidze, Dvali, Lochoshvili; Kakabadze, Chakvetadze, Kochorashvili, Tsitaishvili; Davitashvili; Zivzivadze, Mikautadze
Probable lineup Hungary: B. Toth; Osvath, Orban, Csinger, Kerkez; Schafer, Szoboszlai; Sallai, Lukacs, Redzic; Varga

Free Football Prediction: Georgia vs Hungary

Our prediction: Hungary to win (2.25)

We’re backing Hungary at 2.25. Georgia haven’t scored in 360 minutes of this campaign, and the player who took their only penalty in that time is now out long-term. Hungary beat them 1-0 six weeks ago, and Szoboszlai, Sallai and Varga are all available this time.

Georgia’s defence is the case for the other side. They’ve conceded two goals in four games and a draw at home is a realistic target for a team that’s already drawn 0-0 twice. We’d still trust the side that can score: Hungary have found the net in three of their four games, Georgia in none.

The motivation also sits with the visitors. Hungary know two wins take them up, and Rossi has his strongest squad of the autumn available. A narrow away win, 1-0 or 2-0, is the score we expect in Tbilisi.

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