Torpedo Kutaisi, after many slow years have finally found some consistency and has been one of Georgias most stable teams performance wise recently and established themselves as a title contender. This is much thanks to foreign influence, starting with Steve Kean from Scotland who took over the team last summer and has adapted the Georgian culture in a way that makes him well liked and created a sense of unity between players, fans and club. He holds a 27-13-10 record with Torpedo, and is currently riding a hot streak, having not lost a match since 29th of March. Last season, they knocked out Sarajevo, but lost against Aktobe, despite winning away in Kazakstan. Now, the goal is to reach further.
I mentioned the foreign influence, and this is seen in the squad too, having 11 foreign players in the squad. They have added players from Ordabasy, Dnipro, Brisbane and Varberg, so a very global team. Most recently even the ex-Liverpool player Mamadou Sakho signed for Torpedo.
It is safe to say that Keane certainly has options. The biggest star is still the local, Giorgi Arabidze whose left foot belongs in higher divisions and can decide games on his own.
Tirana with a new manager, is always tricky to know how that kicks off. The first task is to travel to Georgia and try to get a result. The Albanian season finished already so the match form is perhaps questionable, compared to the opponents. They played two friendlie and lost both to Struga & Skhendija, failing to score in either. They have lost their captain, center back Erion Hoxhallari to Poland.
Conclusion:
I am tempted to go with Torpedo here, who has built resilience and consistency with the Scotsman in charge. At home they have to go with their current momentum to secure a good result for the return. The price is just about accurate and playable at the moment, but anything lower than 1.70 is a no go for me