International
2008-02-06 - Georgia vs Latvia
A Sports Betting Pick by Jason Kidd
International Friendly
Wednesday 6th February - Kickoff 14:00
Betting on friendlies is a bad thing in general. However when Latvia play away from home I just can't resist the temptation.
Georgia should be backed at this price
The price for Georgia is huge here (Scotland fans will know what I mean).Latvia lost their 5 from 6 away game in EURO qualifying campaign beating only Iceland in the meaningless game in October (have to confess, I did backed Iceland that time).
Latvia have managed to lose even at Lichtenstein which was nothing more but a fair estimate of their strength. I've said many times on the forum that after reaching the finals of EURO-2004 it's been a constant downfall for the Latvians.
The reason is simple: there are now young players who can bring the same quality to the team as the veterans did.
Regarding tomorrow's game, Latvian players are simply not ready for it. Only defender Gorks plays competitive football for Blackpool, while the majority of the rest, who based in Latvia, will start their season only in April (we don't even have the top flight calendar ready).
The best player in midfield Juris Laizains, who recently signed for Russian side Shinnik, will begin earlier - in March. However after he trained a couple of times together with my Sunday League team I can assure you - he is completely out of form.
Despite Georgia winning against Scotland, they are far from the world beaters having a 2W-1d-3L record during EURO qualifying. But this team has plenty of talents and even in such difficult group I think they were underachievers.
Also the Georgian season resumes on 23 February, what means they must be better prepared than Latvians. Also the season is running for Kaladze, Kobiashvili, Gviniadze, Mchelidze, Siradze and Kenia, which should be a big advantage for the hosts (and don't forget the home advantage of course).
THE VERDICT
I would take Georgia at home against Latvia for this price in any circumstances anytime in the season. But with the all mentioned above I think that Georgians have at least 60% chance to win it and it's a 10/10 bet for me.
