Sweden vs Azerbaijan

Sweden’s stuttering Euro 2024 qualifying campaign faces a seemingly manageable task as they welcome Azerbaijan to the Friends Arena.

Reaching the seventh consecutive European Championship finals won’t be a straightforward assignment for Sweden despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s return from international retirement. Indeed, Belgium thrashed the Swedes 3-0 in Solna on matchday one, throwing their hopes of another Euro qualification into doubt. Despite refusing to be downbeat, Sweden boss Janne Andersson must avoid losing back-to-back matches for the second time within a year to keep in touch with the top-two places. However, that defeat to Belgium marked only Sweden’s second loss in their last 23 Euro qualifiers on home soil (W16, D5), suggesting the ‘Blagult’ should bounce back against sub-par visitors. Adding to this sentiment, they’ve won both previous competitive H2Hs ‘to nil.’

In the meantime, Azerbaijan’s bid to qualify for a first-ever European Championship started with a whimper rather than a bang, as Austria humbled them 4-1 in their Group F opener. In addition to being knocked down from a handsomely-looking five-game winning streak, the Azeri extended their woeful winless run in away Euro qualifiers to a staggering 35 matches (D4, L31). Indeed, ‘Mili komanda’ lost all four travels in the Euro 2020 qualifying cycle, though to their credit, each of those defeats came by a single-goal margin. Putting up a fight may not suffice as the visitors bid to win their first Euro qualifier since beating Malta in 2015. But scoring in their last four internationals on foreign soil (W3, L1) seems like a perfect source of inspiration.

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