Last updated & checked: 10/08/2021
Wales haven’t exactly set the world of fire thus far with their Euro 2020 qualifying efforts. Yet bookmakers and fans alike seem very confident in their ability to walk away from this game a winner. There’s a few reasons for this. For starters, they did win their opening qualifier against Slovakia. Perhaps most importantly though, their losses over Croatia and Hungary did show us potential performance wise against two quality teams.
However, the biggest reason for this confidence is surely more down to the weaknesses of Azerbaijan, which can be clearly seen in the results. Wales beat Slovakia, while Azerbaijan lost 5-1. Wales lost by a single goal to Hungary, and Azerbaijan lost by two. Only their losses against Croatia are matched in terms of the scoreline.
Wales, however, should be wary of considering this game an easy way of getting back some momentum. Many teams have been ruined at this early point through overconfidence.
Wales vs Azerbaijan Prediction: Wales 3-1 Azerbaijan
While we do warn against overconfidence, facts are facts and the truth is that there isn’t a metric in the qualifiers so far in which you can consider Azerbaijan to have outperformed Wales. The home side have consistently shown more on the pitch and have better score lines to prove it, particularly against Slovakia. However, we don’t want to talk down the positive attributes of their opponents. Azerbaijan have been nothing if not resilient and have managed to score in every game of the qualifiers so far. With that in mind, our scoreline prediction for this game is 3-1 to Wales.
Our recommended tip: Both teams score
We seem to be very much at odds with the bookmakers in our opinion here. That’s a good thing for us though because it means we get what we consider to be some pretty excellent odds. Considering that Azerbaijan has managed to score against the likes of Hungary and Croatia – and Wales’ defence has been far from perfect – we see no reason why we won’t see the same here. Plus, we’re even more confident that Wales themselves can score. It you are looking at things the same way, you can get 7/4 odds on both teams to score at Paddy Power.
Previous matches
While certainly not the most common fixture in the world, it may surprise you to learn that these two have actually met a few times after the millennium. They first came to a head in 2002 and met five more times, with their last encounter taking place in June 2009. That means it has been more than a decade since they last met. However, we think that’s probably a good thing for Azerbaijan considering they failed to win any of those encounters, with their best result being a 1-1 draw in qualifying for the 2004 World Cup. History is on the Welsh team’s side, but there’s been enough breathing room for their opponents to hopefully have regained some confidence.
Top 3 Euro Qualifiers Bookies
Players to watch: Gareth Bale & Ramil Sheydaev
An obvious pick but Garath Bale comes into this match as one of the most interesting players to keep an eye on. That’s not just because he is such an extraordinary talent, but also because he has failed to exert his abilities thus far in the qualifiers. He looked oddly toothless in his attempts to turn things around against Hungary, despite his obvious credentials and the impact he had on the Nations League last year. Whether or not he can turn things around here will be a huge factor in the end result.
Considering that Ramil Sheydaev is the only member of his squad who has scored an away goal against a team ranked in the top 30 by UEFA since 2014 – and has done so twice in a matter of weeks in these qualifiers – he is our obvious pick. It’s worth noting too that both these goals came early in the match.
