Azerbaijan vs Sweden Prediction: Away side can secure three points

Neither Sweden or Azerbaijan can qualify for Euro 2024 through their qualification group but that doesn’t mean we can’t try and pick out a winner when the two teams meet at 17:00 on Thursday night. Below we preview the clash and give you a couple of betting tips.

Team News

24-year-old Renat Dadashov is expected to lead the line for Azerbaijan having scored three goals for Hatayspor this season. Strike partner Ramil Sheydayev is just one more booking away from being hit with a Group F suspension.

Fresh off the back of scoring the winner against Luton Town, Victor Lindelof will make his 63rd international appearance on Thursday. He’s likely to be joined by Newcastle’s Emil Krafth, although his teammate Alexander Isak is out of this Sweden squad through injury. It means the goalscoring responsibility will fall to Viktor Gyokeres, who has scored 12 goals in 14 games for Sporting CP this season. 

Match Odds

Azerbaijan are 13/2 to win this game, while Sweden are the favourites at 4/9. A draw is available at 16/5, BTTS is EVS and over 2.5 goals is 5/6. 

Sweden to win with -1 handicap @ 13/10

Sweden are by far the more superior side here, and have a wealth of quality at their disposal. In Gyokeres, they possess one of the deadliest strikers anywhere in Europe and he is likely to enjoy a profitable evening in front of goal against Azerbaijan. 

I’m expecting Sweden to win this game, but the odds of 4/9 are a little too short for my liking. However, with their solid defence and star striker, we can add a -1 handicap to the bet. That gives us a much more backable price of 13/10 for the away side, who held Belgium to a 1-1 draw at half-time in their cancelled qualifier. 

Azerbaijan 0-2 Sweden @ 11/2

Sweden battered Azerbaijan 5-0 in the reverse fixture, and I can see them winning this game to nil as well. However, Sweden’s away record is not good. They’ve only won once on foreign soil since June 2022, and that record needs to change here. 

Janne Andersson needs to start winning games away from home in order to preserve the job he has held since 2016, and I believe Sweden will win in Baku. They are unlikely to run riot, given the home side only lost 1-0 to both Austria and Belgium recently, but the price of 11/2 for a 2-0 win makes the most sense to me. 

Check out our Euro 2024 Betting Tips here.