Euro 2024: Turkey x Georgia, Match Preview, Odds, Team News and Predictions(18/06/2024)

Turkey was seen by many as the possible dark horse heading into Euro 2024. However, they utterly failed. With losses in all three games against Switzerland, Wales, and Italy, Turkey placed last in Group A. Against Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Georgia, Group F offers Turkey an excellent chance this time.

As their first big event, Georgia is unknown, and they are looking to establish themselves in Germany. Georgia did score in seven of their eight games despite their difficulties throughout the qualifying campaign, including a home game.

Turkey x Georgia Team News

Vincenzo Montella has only coached Turkey in eight games but has finished the Euro 2024 qualification with two victories and a tie. However, Montella has made his strategies rather evident in this little amount of time. Who will play at certain spots is less obvious, however.

Ismail Yuksek, Kerem Akturkoglu, and Baris Alper Yilmaz are the only three Montella players in every game. Still, you would expect Akturkoglu to start with a full-strength team. The chosen goalkeeper is Ugurgan Cakir, while Merih Demiral is one of the players you would think to start in defense.

You would anticipate Hakan Calhanoglu and Orkun Kokcu playing in the midfield, with Arda Guler having some promise.

Kenan Yildiz is the go-to guy up front, and there will be a lot of expectation that the youngster will open new doors for Turkey.

Though Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, 23, plays on the flank for Napoli, he is one of the leading outlets for the national team and will be the top player for Georgia. This was only sometimes the case; the transition was made in the last few games and has been relatively successful. As a striker, Kvaratskhelia scored four goals in his previous three qualifying matches, including two in a 2-2 tie with Scotland.

It would seem strange for the Frenchman to do anything different since it is what brought him to the Euros, but that change occurred when Georgia boss Willy Sagnol changed the formation to a front two. It has Kvaratskhelia up front with Georges Mikautadze, and the two have so far worked nicely together. Giorgi Chakvetadze will be sitting close behind them. But they might rotate in any sequence to even, as they did against Montenegro, form a 3-4-2-1.

Giorgi Mamardashvili is dependable between the sticks; sometimes, he may have to save the defense.

Head To Head And Previous Matches

With three of their previous five encounters against Georgia—they only lost 1-0 in a friendly in 2007—Turkey will be optimistic going into this game. But a lot has changed since they last squared off twelve years ago.

Turkey plays Georgia at B.V.B. Stadion in Dortmund on June 18 to start their Euro 2024 campaign. One of the two to progress was in an intriguing qualifying group with a few clubs of similar caliber. They placed first in their group, one point ahead of Croatia and five ahead Wales in third. Just one match in qualifying saw Turkey lose against Croatia in their second game, but they bounced back with a six-game winning streak.

But since after qualifying, Turkey has been in terrible shape. They were thrashed 6-1 by Italy in March, and they have lost three of their four games this year. Turkey defeated Poland and tied with Italy in their pre-tournament-friendly matches.

Nobody in their group, including Spain, Scotland, Norway, and Cyprus, would have predicted that Georgia could go to Euro 2024. And they ended fourth with eight points from eight games, drawing with Scotland and Norway and defeating Cyprus at home and away. But their UEFA Nations League finish—beating Luxembourg and then Greece in the play-offs—gave them a second shot. The only pre-Euro 2024 friendly Georgia played, they defeated Montenegro 3-1.

Our Predictions

Turkey to win @1.75 on Sky247.ng

Turkey, which failed to live up to its "dark hose" nickname in Euro 2020, is hoping for a better performance in Germany. It may start well when they play Georgia, a European Championship debutant, on Group F's first matchday.

As they finished Group D with 17 points, one point ahead of runners-up Croatia, a country ranked 10th in the world by FIFA, the Crescent-Stars lost just one of their eight qualifying games. They have also won three of their last five encounters with Georgia, the most recent of which was a 3-1 international friendly triumph in 2012.

Although Turkey did score 14 goals in qualifying, the most of any team in Group D, no one player for Vincenzo Montella's team took up the scoring mantle; Kerem Akturkoglu of Galatasaray and Cenk Tosun of Besiktas led the way with two goals apiece, demonstrating their threat from all areas of the field.

Georgia will not want just to fill up the stats in Germany, and the Crusaders do enter the competition with only one loss in their previous six games, including their historic play-off final penalty shootout triumph against Greece.

Though they ended fourth in Group A with eight points, nine behind second-ranked Scotland, their qualifying results won't give Willy Sagnol's team much optimism.

With Turkey having played in past tournaments, this is crucial in determining how this match turns out, with Georgia getting a brutal reality check in Dortmund.

Hakan Calhanoglu to score anytime @3.75 on Sky247.ng

A defeat in the first game can determine how the group stages play out. Thus, Turkey might have to work hard for the first match against Georgia.

Captain Hakan Calhanoglu is more than qualified to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, as one of their players will probably have to.

With 13 Serie A goals, the 30-year-old is coming into Germany after an outstanding domestic campaign with the Nerazzurri, his highest league output since 2013.

Calahanoglu, a free-kick and set-piece expert, is dependable up close and long range and might score the goal that propels Turkey to its first major championship since 2016. The Turks should win and keep a clean sheet, and a 2-0 final result appeals to some.

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