North Macedonia and Georgia will meet in Skopje on Thursday evening having enjoyed a strong start to their UEFA Nations League campaign.
While the home side have accumulated four points from two matches in League C Group 4, the visitors are in first place after two dominant wins over the same opponents.
Match preview
Georgia have a long way to go if they want to consistently be regarded as one of the mid-level nations in Europe, but it is difficult to argue that they are heading in the right direction.
Beating Kosovo and Sweden at the end of World Cup qualifying set the ball rolling, Willy Sagnol providing the right guidance and knowledge to players who obviously had unlocked potential.
Since then, a further four wins and a draw have been posted, a period which has included victory in Bosnia-Herzegovina and a free-scoring double-header against Gibraltar and Bulgaria.
A 4-0 success over the former was perhaps expected, but the Crusaders really made an impression in hitting five in Bulgaria, those five goals coming before the 70-minute mark.
Although Sagnol will call for a certain level of calm heading into the next two games, the Frenchman knows that there is an opportunity to cement first place and move to the brink of promotion to League B.
North Macedonia have already achieved what Georgia are targeting over the coming years, a place in a major tournament and embarrassing the elite against the odds.
Beating Italy in the World Cup playoffs was even more impressive than qualifying for Euro 2020, and Blagoja Milevski has kept things ticking over despite of defeat to Portugal in the final.
A 1-1 draw in Bulgaria was acceptable, if not the result that they desired, but a 2-0 win in Gibraltar was an important exercise ahead of bigger tests to come.
Despite the obvious goal threat that Georgia possess, North Macedonia have conceded just four times in six games since a 4-0 reverse in Germany.
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Team News
Although Milevski named a strong starting lineup for the game in Gibraltar, he opted to make numerous substitutions before the final quarter.
With that in mind, alterations are expected to be few and far between, Kire Ristevski an option to be recalled in defence if North Macedonia switch to a back three.
Barring any injury issues, Sagnol is unlikely to tinker with a Georgia XI which produced one of their most clinical performances in years last time out.
However, Valeri Qazaishvili - the top international goalscorer in this squad - is pushing for a recall having netted during his outing as a replacement versus Bulgaria.
With each of the front three also scoring last time out, the Ulsan Hyundai forward may have little choice but to remain on the bench.
North Macedonia possible starting lineup:
Iliev; Todoroski, Serafimov, Musliu, Alioski; Nikolov, Bardhi, Spirovski, Elmas; Trajkovski, Ristovski
Georgia possible starting lineup:
Loria; Kvirkvelia, Kashia, Khocholava; Kakabadze, Aburjania, Kvekveskiri, Azarovi; Kvaratskhelia, Davitashvili; Zivzivadze
We say: North Macedonia 1-1 Georgia
This has all the makings of a fixture which could potentially decide the group further down the line, resulting in smaller margins for error. Although North Macedonia will hope to make the most of home advantage, Georgia have been excellent of late and should have enough belief to earn a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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