Azerbaijan and Belarus will be looking to notch up their 2022 UEFA Nations League’s first wins when they head to head at the Dalga Arena on Monday evening with kickoff at 7 pm.
On Friday evening, Azerbaijan suffered a 1-0 defeat against Slovakia in their latest UEFA European Championship qualifying clash. Despite seeing little of the ball and suffering numerous attempts on their goal, Giovanni De Biasi’s side kept the superior Slovaks at arm’s length for much of the clash in Baku.
However, former Manchester City midfielder Vladimir Weiss ensured that Azerbaijan would come away empty-handed after scoring an 81st-minute winner for the visitors.
As a result, Monday’s hosts occupy the bottom spot in Group C3 heading into matchday four, leaving their clash with Belarus a crucial one in their quest to avoid relegation to League D.
Meanwhile, Belarus—who opened their Nations League campaign with a home tie against Kazakhstan last week—have struggled to find the net in their last two fixtures.
On Friday, the away side was held to a goalless draw against the group leaders. It could not break the deadlock against hosts Belarus on Monday evening either, despite Vladislav Malkevich’s strike six minutes from time. The point means that Belarus occupy the third spot ahead of Kazakhstan.
Azerbaijan vs Belarus Head to Head
Both sides have three games against each other, each taking one win and one draw. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Azerbaijan 0-1 Slovakia
- Belarus 0-0 Azerbaijan
- Kazakhstan 2-0 Azerbaijan
- Azerbaijan 0-1 Latvia
Away
- Belarus 1-1 Kazakhstan
- Belarus 0-0 Azerbaijan
- Slovakia 1-0 Belarus
- Bahrain 0-1 Belarus
Azerbaijan Team News
De Biasi named an unchanged lineup for the narrow defeat to Slovakia on Friday after only making a couple of changes on matchday two. De Biasi may choose to make some alterations to his formation to keep players fresh and avoid fatigue.
Belarus Team News
Kondratiev also tends to opt for a back three when he has the visitors in mind, although he prefers to switch between variants of a 3-4-3 and 3-5-2. Malkevich and Valeri Gromyko made huge impacts off the bench against Kazakhstan on Friday, so both are likely to be promoted into the starting 11.
Prediction and Odds
Both sides will be nervous in the game’s closing stages, especially as they approach their opponent’s goal so that we can expect few goals. Azerbaijan will likely win by a slim margin, but the game could go either way.
- Home Win
- Goals Under 2.5
- No Score: Away
