Belgium vs Georgia Prediction: Tournaments hosts have to win

The first round in Group A will end with the match between Georgia and Belgium. The Georgians play on their home court, and bookmakers consider them the favorites in the match. Will the hosts be able to start the tournament with a victory?

Team Belgium made it to EuroBasket for the 5th time in a row, but they have not taken part in any other top tournaments in over 50 years. The Belgians' best recent performance was at the 2013 European Championship, where they finished ninth. The team is mostly made up of players from their home country, but international players play the key role. Retin Obasohan averaged 17.1 points in the last Israeli championship, and in the Champions League, he was one of the key players for Hapoel Tel Aviv. Ismael Bako got more playing time last season at Manresa and made some progress; he's consistently averaging 10+ points for the national team.

Belgium struggles to qualify for the World Cup without any bright stars. The arrival of leaders from the NBA and the Euroleague to their rivals hasn't stopped the Belgians. In their last four official games, they've won 3 times. Last game Dario Gjergja's players lost to Greeks, 68-85. The Belgian national team made a lot of mistakes, and 23 losses a game only confirms it. The realization of shots from the game did not please as well, and from the positive moments we can note only the struggle won on foreign boards. Ismael Bako and Retin Obasohan were the most productive players on the team, scoring 12 and 14 points, respectively.

Being one of the host nations at EuroBasket made life a lot easier for Georgia, although they had made it to the continental forum four times in a row before that. They have not managed to climb beyond 11th place so far, but the team still has potential. Goga Bitadze and Sandro Mamukelashvili play in the NBA, and the latter got a lot of playing time in Milwaukee at some points during the season. Chances would have improved significantly without Tornike Shengelia getting injured. The Virtus forward checked out recently. One of the Georgian attack leaders is Thad McFadden, who has naturalized a long time ago. He averaged 20.5 points per game in World Cup 2023 qualifying, and his season at Murcia has been quite effective for the 35-year-old guard.

In eight previous games, the Georgian national team has won only 1 victory. In the World Cup qualifying, they defeated the Dutch squad at home, 77-66. In the last game, Elias Zouros's men lost to Italy with a score of 84-91. The Georgians were better at shooting from the field, but Italy kept fouling. In addition, the visitors lost the ball more often, which also had an impact on the score. Goga Bitadze was the best player on the team, tallying 19 points and 13 rebounds.

In 4 head-to-head encounters, the teams scored 2 wins each. The last meeting took place in 2015, with the Georgian team defeating the Belgians 70-68.

• Belgium lost 6 of the last 7 matches;
• Georgia won 5 of the last home matches;
• Belgium scored less than 70 points in 3 of the last 5 games.

The Georgian national team has been transformed by the arrival of NBA players and has looked very good in recent World Cup qualifiers. The hosts in the upcoming game had a chance to beat the Italians on the road, and they deservedly defeated the Dutch team. Goga Bitadze is capable not only of scoring but also of playing good defense under the basket, so it won't be easy for his opponent. The Belgians have been unstable of late, and at the EuroBasket level, it will be much more difficult for them than it was in qualifying when many of their leading scorers didn't make it to the competition. The home advantage shouldn't be an issue for the Georgians either, so I'd suggest betting on the following outcomes:

• H2 (-2.5) for 1.71;
• Total Under (153.5) for 1.72;
• W2+TU (151.5) for 2.85.

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