David Flower
Dailysports's expert
Azerbaijan
Sweden
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One of the matches in the first round of the UEFA Nations League will take place on Thursday in Baku, where the Azerbaijan national team will face Sweden at the "Tofiq Bahramov Stadium." Here’s a match prediction from the Dailysports expert team.
Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijan national team had a disappointing qualifying campaign for Euro 2024, finishing only in 4th place in their qualifying group. In eight matches, "Milli" managed only two wins—an away victory against Estonia (2-0) and a convincing home win against Sweden (3-0).
Following this poor performance, the federation appointed the renowned Portuguese coach Fernando Santos, who led Portugal to victory at the European Championship. Though Santos struggled with Poland and Beşiktaş, there’s hope he can succeed in Baku. In four friendlies this year, Azerbaijan defeated Mongolia (1-0) and Kazakhstan (3-2) at home, but lost to Albania (1-3) away.
Sweden
The "Tre Kronor" are going through a tough period. The team that prevented Italy from reaching the 2018 World Cup and reached the quarterfinals of the tournament has since fallen apart, missing two major tournaments in a row. While Sweden lost in the playoffs for the 2022 World Cup, their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign was even worse, winning only three out of eight matches.
Former player Jon Dahl Tomasson, known for his success with Malmö in Sweden, has been brought in to turn things around. However, he struggled in the Championship, and his results with the national team have been underwhelming so far. Sweden only managed to beat Albania in a friendly, but suffered defeats to Portugal (2-5), Denmark (1-2), and Serbia (0-3).
Interesting Facts and Head-to-Head History
- The teams met during the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, with Sweden coming out on top.
- In the Euro 2024 qualifiers, the teams exchanged decisive home victories.
- The "Both Teams to Score" bet has not won in any of their last four encounters.
Azerbaijan vs Sweden Prediction
Bookmakers heavily favor the Swedish team, giving them odds of 1.61 for a win. However, we believe "Tre Kronor" won’t have an easy time, and our recommended bet is "Azerbaijan with a +1.0 handicap" at odds of 1.88.
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