Georgia v Scotland background
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Article summary
Kakhaber Tskhadadze is hoping to get his first win as Georgia coach, while Scotland know a win could be of huge value, given that Germany meet Poland elsewhere.
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Georgia are eager to break their duck under new coach Kakhaber Tskhadadze in UEFA EURO 2016 Group D, while Scotland know a win could be of huge value, given that Germany meet Poland elsewhere.
Previous meetings
• Defender Akaki Khubutia's own goal earned Scotland a 1-0 win when the sides met in October 2014; Georgia's record in three games against Scotland is now W1 D0 L2.
• Scotland beat Georgia 2-1 when the sides first met in Glasgow on 24 March 2007, in what was Alex McLeish's first match in charge of the home side. Shota Arveladze – who had been a popular player in Glasgow with Rangers FC – scored the Georgia goal.
• Georgia won the return fixture on 17 October 2-0, with Levan Mchedlidze – then just 17 – scoring his first international goal before David Siradze's strike settled the result.
Disciplinary
• Georgia duo Murtaz Daushvili and Jaba Kankava are both a yellow card away from a suspension.
• Scotland defender Grant Hanley and midfielder James Morrison are both a booking away from a one-game ban.
Form guide
• Georgia are on a three-game losing streak in Group D during which they have not scored; that run started under Temuri Ketsbaia and has continued in their first two games under his replacement, Kahkaber Tshkadadze.
• Georgia are without a win in six competitive home games (D1 L5) since a 1-0 success against Belarus in September 2012. During that win-less run, they have scored just once in Tbilisi – Tornike Okriashvili's effort against the Republic of Ireland their only competitive home goal in almost three years.
• Scotland are unbeaten in five Group D games (W3 D2) since opening with a 2-1 defeat in Germany, but have yet to win an away game in the section (D2 L1).
Trivia and links
• In seven UEFA age-group tournament meetings, Georgia have recorded five wins to Scotland's one, the nations meeting most recently in 2014/15 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying, Georgia winning 2-1 in Tbilisi and drawing 1-1 in the return fixture in Paisley.
• In the only meetings between the nations' clubs in UEFA competition, Celtic FC beat FC Dinamo Batumi 3-2 away and 4-0 at home in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
