Serbia will hope to maintain their unbeaten start when they travel to the Baku Olympic Stadium for a Group A clash in the European World Cup qualifiers. The hosts are likely to be the whipping boys of the group and should be no match for the impressive Serbians.
The Serbians showed their quality last time out as they fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw against European Champions Portugal. They looked to be heading for defeat after the Portuguese went into the break with a two-goal advantage but goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic ensured they got a share of the spoils.
The result means Dragan Stojkovic’s men are still unbeaten after two matches and are the early pacesetters in the group. Their good form stretches to long before the qualifiers as they are currently on a six-match unbeaten run.
Serbia have impressed on their travels and are unbeaten in their last four away matches. They have also shown their defensive qualities with clean sheets in their last two matches on the road.
Azerbaijan head into Tuesday’s match off the back of a 2-1 friendly defeat against Qatar. They led at the break through a Ramil Seydayev penalty but were unable to hold on and were breached twice in the second half.
It is the second straight defeat for Giovanni De Biasi's men, who were beaten 1-0 by Portugal in their opening match of the qualifiers. Seydayev’s penalty was also their first goal in seven international matches.
Azerbaijan are also on a lengthy winless run at home with no wins in eight matches stretching back to 2019. Among their results in that run is a 2-0 defeat to Wales while they were also beaten 5-1 by Slovakia.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Serbia as overwhelming favourites with Unibet offering 7/20 for an away win. A win for Azerbaijan is valued at 11/1 by bet365 while a draw is set at odds of 19/5 by Betfred.
Serbia have been playing with plenty of confidence lately and given Azerbaijan’s poor home form, I am leaning towards an away win here.
Head to head
Serbia have a 3-1 advantage from five previous matches against Azerbaijan. There have been just one draw between both teams while the Serbs ran out 4-1 winners in a friendly back in 2015.
Players to watch
Serbia are often solid in defence and will be targeting their first clean sheet in the qualifiers. With Nemanja Maksimovic and Stefan Mitrovic at the back, they are likely to get it at 4/7 with GentingBet.
At the other end of the pitch, Aleksandar Mitrovic has been the star of the show for the Serbians with three goals in two matches. With Filip Kostic also impressing, the Serbs can be backed to score 2+ goals on Tuesday at 1/2 with Skybet.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Serbia expected to keep a clean sheet on Tuesday, a win to nil might be worth a punt at 10/11 with Sporting Index. The -1-handicap market could also be in play at 21/20 Betfred.
The Serbians could be backed to win both halves at 21/10 with William Hill. They are also likely to score in both halves at 27/20 with Sporting Index.
This World Cup match between Azerbaijan and Serbia will be played on Mar 30, 2021 and kick off at 16:00. Check below for our tipsters best Azerbaijan vs Serbia prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
