As closely contested League B Group 1 nears its conclusion, promotion - and relegation - rivals Georgia and Ukraine will meet in Batumi on Saturday evening.
Over the next few days, both sides could either step up to the UEFA Nations League's top tier or drop down to League C, after they experienced contrasting fortunes last month.
Match preview
© Imago
Having taken the back-door Nations League route to Euro 2024 - where they thrillingly made it through to the knockout stage - Georgia returned to the competition with back-to-back wins in September.
Willy Sagnol's side put four past the Czech Republic and then saw off Albania, establishing a three-point lead at the top of Group 1 and putting themselves in pole position to claim an unprecedented place in League A.
However, two losses last month stalled their progress, leaving them trailing behind the Czechs and level with Albania on six points ahead of the final two rounds of fixtures.
Despite fielding a fearsome attack, featuring Euros stars Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze, they twice failed to score in October, suffering successive 1-0 defeats - the first coming against Ukraine.
As a result, the Crusaders will be keen to strengthen their hand by beating their Ukrainian counterparts in Batumi, which would also eliminate the visitors from contention.
© Imago
While neither Georgia nor Albania's fate can be definitively decided until Tuesday, Ukraine will certainly be out of the race for promotion if they lose this weekend.
Indeed, they would then be automatically relegated with one game remaining should Albania also defeat Czech Republic, so claiming a draw will be their minimum aim.
Serhiy Rebrov's side started their latest Nations League campaign slowly, suffering two defeats in September, but they returned to winning ways last month, with a first-half strike from Mykhaylo Mudryk seeing them past Georgia.
Three days later, Artem Dovbyk's penalty salvaged a point against the Czechs, and although Ukraine remain bottom of the table, they have now built some momentum and are just one win behind the leaders.
Completing the turnaround and claiming top spot would ensure automatic promotion, while second place earns a playoff; third will result in a relegation decider against a League C team, while staying fourth would mean definite demotion.
Team News
© Imago
Georgia coach Willy Sagnol - who recently signed a contract extension until 2028 - has named a familiar squad for this month's Nations League fixtures, including star names such as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Liverpool-bound goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Joint-top scorer at Euro 2024, Georges Mikautadze will aim to add to his total of 14 goals from 33 international appearances, having struck twice in Group 1 thus far.
Empoli defender Saba Goglichidze is the hosts' most notable absentee, having sustained an injury in the Serie A side's clash with Lecce last week; Aleksandre Kalandze of Dinamo Tbilisi has been called up as cover.
Meanwhile, Ukraine will be without Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin again, as a family matter has seen him excused from national team duty - he missed out last month due to illness.
Serhiy Rebrov generally prefers Benfica's Anatoliy Trubin in any case, though the loss of Girona winger Viktor Tsygankov will make more of an impact.
The latter's absence saw Vitaliy Buyalskyi belatedly called into the squad, but the Dynamo Kyiv midfielder subsequently withdrew because of a muscular problem. Buyalskyi's clubmates Andriy Yarmolenko and Oleksandr Pikhalyonok are also sidelined.
Despite the chaos engulfing Roma since his arrival in the summer, last season's La Liga Pichichi award winner Artem Dovbyk has scored seven goals for club and country this season and will lead the line up front.
Georgia possible starting lineup:
Mamardashvili; Gvelesiani, Kashia, Dvali; Kakabadze, Kochorashvili, Kiteischvili, Chakvetadze, Lochoshvili; Mikautadze, Kvaratskhelia
Ukraine possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Konoplya, Zabarnyi, Talovyerov, Matviyenko; Brazhko; Hutsulyak, Shaparenko, Sudakov, Mudryk; Dovbyk
We say: Georgia 2-1 Ukraine
Two well-matched teams could be separated by one goal again, but home advantage should help Georgia over the line to victory, knocking Ukraine out of the promotion race.
The hosts may have an ageing defence, but Willy Sagnol has forged them into a solid team and their ability to counter-attack is renowned.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
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