Sweden are only playing for pride as they travel to Azerbaijan for a Group F fixture in the European Championship qualifiers. The Swedes will be looking to go out with a bang and should have too much quality for the Azerbaijanis who have been unconvincing at home lately.
Azerbaijan will be looking to end their campaign on a high note as they can also no longer qualify for the tournament in Germany. They are currently fourth on the table, 12 points off the pace with two matches left to play in Group F.
Group F has proved to be difficult for Azerbaijan, who have picked up just one win from six matches so far. Giovanni De Biasi’s men have suffered four defeats in that run and were beaten 1-0 by Austria last time out in the qualifiers.
The defeat to Austria highlights a poor home record for Azerbaijan, who are winless in front of their fans in these qualifiers. They have lost their last two home matches, failing to score in either of the fixtures.
It has been a disappointing qualifying campaign for Sweden, who are set to miss the European Championships for the first time since 1988. They are currently third on the table, nine points off the qualifying places with just two matches left to play.
Sweden played out a 1-1 draw with Belgium last time out, in a clash that was abandoned after two fans were shot outside the stadium. Viktor Gyokeres had given them an early lead before the Belgians equalised on the half hour mark.
The result means Sweden have only been beaten once on the road in these qualifiers, a 2-0 defeat to Austria back in June. Janne Andersson’s men picked up a 5-0 victory in Estonia in their last away fixture prior to the clash in Belgium.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Sweden as overwhelming favourites and are priced at 1/2 by Coral to claim the victory. Azerbaijan are considered outsiders among the bookies with a home win valued at 13/2 by Unibet while William Hill is offering odds of 10/3 for a draw.
Head to head
Sweden have never lost to Azerbaijan, winning all three previous meetings without conceding a single goal. The Swedes ran out 5-0 winners in the reverse fixture back in March with Viktor Gyokeres among the goals.
Players to watch
Viktor Gyokeres has been the shining light in a disappointing campaign for Sweden with three goals in the last five qualifying fixtures. The striker could be worth keeping an eye on to score anytime at 5/4 with bet365.
Given Azerbaijan’s goalscoring problems at home, Sweden will be targeting a shutout on Thursday having already kept a clean sheet in the first meeting. Victor Lindelof has been in good form lately and can guide the Swedes to a clean sheet at 10/11 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Sweden won to nil in the reverse fixture and with Azerbaijan struggling for goals at home, a repeat could be on the cards at 13/10 by BetVictor. With that clash ending 5-0, a -1 handicap could also be considered on Thursday at 13/10 by Paddy Power.
The Swedes won both halves in the reverse fixture and Thursday’s clash could be set to follow a similar pattern at 11/4 with bet365.
This Euro 2024 match between Azerbaijan and Sweden will be played on Nov 16, 2023 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Azerbaijan vs Sweden prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
