Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s friendly clash between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Kazakhstan will be bidding to avoid a fourth straight defeat when they tackle Azerbaijan in an international friendly in Hungary on Tuesday.
Both sides will enter the contest off the back of defeats, with Azerbaijan losing 3-1 to Albania on Friday, while Kazakhstan were beaten 2-1 by Armenia on the same night.
Match preview
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Azerbaijan have never featured in the finals of a major tournament, and the national side will also not be present at this summer’s European Championship, having only picked up seven points in Group F.
Milli Komanda lost 5-0 to Belgium in their final Euro 2024 qualifier at the end of last year, but they have won one, drawn one and lost one of their three friendlies in 2024.
Azerbaijan played twice in March, beating Mongolia 1-0 before drawing 1-1 with Bulgaria, but they will enter this match off the back of a 3-1 defeat to Albania on Friday.
Arif Asadov‘s side will be back in competitive action in the UEFA Nations League at the start of September, with their 2024-25 competition getting underway with a clash against Sweden.
Azerbaijan have actually won four of their last six friendly matches and will be eyeing another success on Tuesday in what will be their final game for three months.
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Kazakhstan were actually present in the playoff semi-final for Euro 2024, but they suffered a 5-0 loss to Greece, with their hopes of reaching the finals of the tournament ending in very disappointing fashion.
The Hawks have since played two friendlies, suffering a 2-1 defeat to Luxembourg at the end of March before going down 2-1 to Armenia on Friday.
Stanislav Cherchesov‘s side will therefore be looking to avoid a fourth straight loss in this contest, which will be their final game before starting their UEFA Nations League campaign against Norway on September 6.
Kazakhstan have faced Azerbaijan on 12 previous occasions, and there has not been much to choose between the two sides, with the Hawks leading the head-to-head five wins to three, while there have also been four draws.
The two teams met twice during the UEFA Nations League back in 2022, with Kazakhstan recording a 2-0 victory in their home fixture before Azerbaijan won the reverse fixture 3-0.
Azerbaijan friendly form:
Azerbaijan form (all competitions):
Kazakhstan friendly form:
Kazakhstan form (all competitions):
Team News
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Azerbaijan are set to be captained by Emin Mahmudov in this contest, with the 32-year-old bidding to add to the 13 goals that he has scored for his country.
There is a mixture of youth and experience in the current squad, and there should be chances for some fringe players to impress ahead of the UEFA Nations League.
Ramil Sheydayev is comfortably the leading goalscorer in the Azerbaijan squad with 10 goals, and he is again expected to feature from the first whistle in this contest.
As for Kazakhstan, Bauyrzhan Islamkhan came off the bench to score a late penalty in the team’s 2-1 defeat to Armenia last time out, and the 31-year-old could now feature from the first whistle.
Elkhan Astanov is expected to retain his spot in the final third, with the forward going in search of his second goal for his country.
Islambek Kuat was another player to impress off the bench in the narrow loss to Armenia, and the midfielder will also be pushing to come into the XI for Tuesday’s international friendly.
Azerbaijan possible starting lineup:
Magomedaliyev; Bayramov, Mammadov, Mustafazade, Guseynov; Mahmudov, Diniyev, Camalov; Dadashov, Qurbanli, Sheydayev
Kazakhstan possible starting lineup:
Shatskiy; Yorogovskiy, Kassym, Marochkin, Alip; Kuat, Islamkhan, Orazoz, Samorodov; Sadybekov, Astanov
We say: Azerbaijan 1-1 Kazakhstan
There has not actually been a draw between these two sides since September 2006, with their last six meetings producing a winner. It would not be a surprise to see a home or an away success here, but we are predicting a low-scoring draw on Tuesday night.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.