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[monks data]
Sweden national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Mar 27, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
 
Azerbaijan national football team

Sweden
5 - 0
Azerbaijan

Forsberg (38'), Mustafazada (65' og.), Gyokeres (79'), Karlsson (88'), Elanga (89')
Gyokeres (24')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Cafarquliyev (28'), Isaev (45')

Preview: Sweden vs. Azerbaijan - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Monday's Euro Champ Qualifying clash between Sweden and Azerbaijan, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Both nations will be aiming to bounce back from defeat when Sweden host Azerbaijan in Group F of Euro 2024 qualifying on Monday.

Sweden were beaten 3-0 at home to Belgium in their opening match, while Azerbaijan were defeated 4-1 away to Austria.


Match preview

Sweden's Viktor Claesson celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on September 24, 2022© Reuters

Indeed, that victory for Austria combined with Sweden's surprisingly heavy defeat to Belgium has heaped the pressure on Janne Andersson and his players to bounce back with a win at Friends Arena on Monday.

With the Belgians clear favourites to top Group F, Sweden and Austria could be fighting for the second automatic qualifying spot behind the Red Devils, with Austria simultaneously having another very winnable home game in front of them against Estonia on Monday.

Sweden have not failed to qualify for a European Championship since Euro 1996, having reached the last 16 last time out at Euro 2020, when they were knocked out by Ukraine after Artem Dovbyk's strike in extra time.

Having also taken the Blue and Yellow to the quarter-finals of World Cup 2018, Andersson has built up plenty of good will since being appointed as his home country's manager in June 2016, so the 60-year-old will be determined to continue that trend across the current qualifying campaign.

Filip Ozobic celebrates scoring for Azerbaijan on September 25, 2022© Reuters

Azerbaijan, meanwhile, have never qualified for a competitive tournament as an independent nation, with their hopes of reaching next summer's competition in Germany suffering a major blow at the hands of Austria on Friday.

Michael Gregoritsch's strike just before the half-hour mark was sandwiched by a brace from Marcel Sabitzer, with the two nations exchanging blows during the latter stages through Emin Mahmudov and Christoph Baumgartner.

Gianni De Biasi had travelled to Linz with plenty of confidence of causing an upset having put together an incredibly impressive run of five successive victories beforehand, but the extent to which they failed to compete will have caused the Italian plenty of concern.

With another tricky away match in Stockholm awaiting them on Monday, another defeat could spell curtains in terms of their hopes of securing an automatic qualification spot, as unlikely as that target may have seemed to outsiders in any case.

Sweden Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Sweden form (all competitions):


Azerbaijan Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Azerbaijan form (all competitions):



Team News

Dejan Kulusevski in action for Sweden in June 2022© Reuters

Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his long-awaited comeback in a Sweden shirt during the second half of his nation's defeat to Belgium on Friday, and the 41-year-old is primed to start against Azerbaijan in an attempt to provide some inspiration to his teammates.

That would likely see Tottenham Hotspur man Dejan Kulusevski shift to a more natural right-sided role having started more centrally alongside Alexander Isak last time out, while Celtic defender Carl Starfelt may be primed for a starting berth.

Azerbaijan, of course, lack the squad depth compared to countries such as their forthcoming opponents, with De Biasi unlikely to make many changes despite his side's disappointing defeat to Austria.

However, Aleksey Isayev could be called upon to provide more creativity from midfield, with captain Mahmudov potentially dropping into a deeper role in the engine room despite scoring his 10th international goal during the 4-1 defeat.

Sweden possible starting lineup:
Olsen; Wahlqvist, Lindelof, Starfelt, Augustinsson; Kulusevski, Olsson, Svanberg, Forsberg; Ibrahimovic, Isak

Azerbaijan possible starting lineup:
Imanov; Haghverdi, Mustafazada, Hesenalizade, Cafarguliyev; Mahmudov, Eddy; Kokcu, Isayev, Sheydayev; Dadashov


SM words green background

We say: Sweden 2-0 Azerbaijan

Despite suffering a convincing defeat to Belgium on Friday, we expect Sweden to bounce back with a relatively comfortable victory against Azerbaijan at Friends Stadium.

Although the visitors do not represent the pushovers they may have done around a decade ago, the return of Ibrahimovic should provide plenty of character and ability to Sweden's frontline, especially with Kulusevski able to enjoy starting from a wider position.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


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Game History

How you voted: Sweden vs Azerbaijan

Sweden
82.7%
Draw
10.0%
Azerbaijan
7.3%
110
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Cyprus Cyprus00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Norway Norway00000
Q Scotland flag Scotland00000
Q Spain Spain00000

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France00000
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar00000
3 Greece Greece00000
Q Netherlands Netherlands00000
5 Ireland Rep. Ireland00000

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England00000
Q Italy Italy00000
3 Malta flag Malta00000
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia00000
5 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Armenia Armenia00000
Q Croatia Croatia00000
3 Latvia Latvia00000
Q Turkey Turkey00000
5 Wales flag Wales00000

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania00000
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands00000
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova00000
5 Poland Poland00000

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria00000
2 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan00000
Q Belgium Belgium00000
4 Estonia Estonia00000
5 Sweden Sweden00000

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Bulgaria Bulgaria00000
Q Hungary Hungary00000
3 Lithuania Lithuania00000
4 Montenegro Montenegro00000
Q Serbia Serbia00000

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark00000
2 Finland Finland00000
3 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan00000
4 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland00000
5 San Marino flag San Marino00000
Q Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Andorra flag Andorra00000
2 Belarus Belarus00000
3 Israel Israel00000
4 Kosovo flag Kosovo00000
Q Romania Romania00000
Q Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina00000
2 Iceland Iceland00000
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein00000
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg00000
Q Portugal Portugal00000
Q Slovakia Slovakia00000


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