Azerbaijan vs Sweden prediction: EUROPE: UEFA Nations League – League C betting tips on match 2024-09-04 16:00.
[p]After a four-month stint with Beşiktaş earlier this year, head coach Fernando Santos will once again take the reins at international level as he looks to kickstart his tenure as Azerbaijan’s boss with a win. He takes over with an impressive win percentage covering his 164 international games in charge of Greece (53.06%), Portugal (61.47%) and Poland (50%), not to mention lifting the UEFA European Championship (UEC) trophy in 2016 and the UNL in 2019, both with Portugal. [/p]
[p]Although ‘Milli Komanda’ have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup or UEC finals, they have performed relatively well in their previous UNL campaigns, twice finishing second. They also begin this campaign looking to extend an unbeaten home run of three matches (W2, D1), a streak which began with a 3-0 win, in spite of playing with ten men for over half an hour, against Sweden last November.[/p]
[p]For Sweden, that loss not only represented their first defeat against Azerbaijan, after winning the previous three clashes, but was also the first time they had conceded a goal in a H2H! They return to Baku ten months later under a new manager, Jon Dahl Tomasson, who has had a tough start to international management with three defeats (W1) since being appointed in late February.[/p]
[p]The Dane is the first non-Swede to coach the national team and is already under pressure to turn around a disappointing three years for the side which has seen them fail to qualify for two major tournaments and suffer back-to-back relegations in the UNL. However, with regular captain Victor Lindelöf injured, Tomasson will be looking to new skipper Dejan Kulusevski to inspire his teammates to a change of fortune. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Azerbaijan captain Emin Mahmudov scored the first and last goal in the previous H2H in November and also contributed an assist followed by a penalty in a 3-2 win over Kazakhstan in June. Striker Viktor Gyökeres took the Player of the Match award in Sweden’s 5-0 win over Azerbaijan in March 2023 after getting an assist and a goal. He’s also begun this season in brilliant form with seven goals across Sporting’s first four Primeira Liga games![/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only one side has got on the scoresheet across the four previous H2Hs. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Tom Penn[/i][/p]