Can Azerbaijan avoid another thrashing at the hands of Sweden
Azerbaijan vs Sweden - 16/11/2023
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Azerbaijan welcome Sweden to the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium on Thursday as both nations return to Euro 2024 qualifying action.
However, Belgium and Austria have already clinched the automatic qualification berths in Group F, leaving Azerbaijan and Sweden to battle it out for a potential play-off spot.
Third-placed Sweden lead fourth-placed Azerbaijan by three points after six matches, while minnows Estonia find themselves rock bottom of Group F with a solitary point.
Azerbaijan have only managed to win one of their six Euro 2024 qualifiers, recording one draw and four defeats along the way.
Gianni De Biasi’s men have also managed to score just four goals so far, meaning they head into their seventh clash with a goals-per-game average of 0.7.
When you look at the bigger picture, Azerbaijan have won only five of their previous 35 encounters across all competitions.
Having failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last eight European Championship qualifiers on home soil, Azerbaijan will struggle to keep Sweden quiet.
As for Sweden, they have taken seven points from a possible 18 so far, meaning they find themselves nine points shy of the top two in Group F.
Although the Yellow and Blue have scored eight goals more than Azerbaijan, they have conceded nine, keeping only two clean sheets in six matches.
Janne Andersson’s side have also managed to win just two of their previous 11 matches across all competitions, underlining their struggles.
That said, Sweden can take confidence from their recent record on the road, as they have lost only one of their last six away European Championship qualifiers.
Head-to-head: When Sweden hosted Azerbaijan in the reverse fixture back in March, the Blue and Yellow thrashed De Biasi’s side 5-0.
Sweden have won each of their three previous meetings with Azerbaijan, scoring a total of nine goals while keeping three clean sheets.
Team news: Azerbaijan captain Emin Mahmudov will aim to score his 12th international goal on Thursday, while Ramil Sheydayev is closing in on 60 caps for his country.
Sweden, on the other hand, can call upon big-name players such as Victor Lindelof, Dejan Kulusevski, Emile Forsberg and Jens Cajuste.
Given that Sweden lead Azerbaijan 9-0 on aggregate after three meetings, the away side are expected to claim all three points in Baku.
Forebet predicts that Sweden will score over 3.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to dispatching Azerbaijan.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
EuQ
192655
2
0 - 4
2.95
15°
1.45
7.50
4.00
1.45
no
no
no
3 - 0(2 - 0)
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