Azerbaijan vs Sweden prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-11-15 17:00.
On the basis of earning just one win from their last 13 home UEFA European Championship Qualifiers (D3, L9), it is no surprise to see Azerbaijan fail to qualify directly for Euro 2024. But Azerbaijan are still in the running for a place in the March 2024 playoffs depending on how results in other groups play out, which should serve as ample motivation to rediscover their best when hosting third-placed Sweden.
The eastern transcontinental nation have been beaten whilst drawing blanks in all three of their previous head-to-heads with Sweden, including a 5-0 thrashing in Stockholm earlier this year. It couples with an alarming dearth of goals more recently, where Gianni De Biasi’s side failed to score in two of their four matches since that defeat, giving their home fans just one solitary goal to celebrate across this qualifying campaign.
Sweden’s travelling contingent returned from their only trip to Baku in 2000 with a 1-0 win, as part of a World Cup qualifying campaign that ended with the Blue and Yellow at the top of the group. But after taking only seven points from their six games so far in this qualification cycle, a top-two finish is already out of reach. They have no means of reaching next year’s playoffs, which consequently means there will be no Swedish team participating in a Euros for the first time since 1996!
Their elimination has signalled the end for manager Janne Anderson, who will sign off from the job he has held since 2016 after their final qualifying game at home on Sunday. This will therefore be his last game in charge on the road, and he’ll be keen to extend their recent upturn in away matches which saw them take points home from three of their last four (W2, D1, L1), after they lost six of the seven prior.
Players to watch: Emin Makhmudov had a hand in two of Azerbaijan’s four goals during this UECQ campaign (G1, A1) and the midfielder also scored a penalty at home against Jordan in a September friendly. Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres is their top scorer of this campaign with three goals, including a strike and an assist in the reverse H2H with Azerbaijan.
Hot stat: Azerbaijan have not scored a first-half goal in any of their last five home UECQ fixtures (D2, L3).