Bulgaria vs Azerbaijan Betting Tips

It has not been a memorable campaign for either side and neither have really ever threatened to challenge for the top 3 places predictably occupied by Italy, Norway and Croatia. This is effectively a 4th/5th place play-off but in reality it is little more than a glorified friendly and a chance to build towards World Cup qualifying that starts next Autumn.

Bulgaria’s campaign started well with a 2-1 win in Azerbaijan but has gone quickly downhill since then with a solitary victory over Malta, their only other success. Their home form has been a real problem and it is now over 2 and a half years since they won a home competitive game and they’ve only won one friendly in that time too. Even Malta picked up a point in Sofia last November so Azerbaijan will be optimistic about their chances.

The visitors have not had a bad 2015 by their own admittedly low standards. They’ve only lost 1 of their 5 Euro 2016 qualifiers in this calendar year and picked up creditable 0-0 draws at home to Croatia and away to Norway.

At 13/10 they look excellent value to avoid defeat again here and it would signal that they are at least turning into a side that is difficult to beat, which hasn’t always been the case for them.

Bulgaria named a fairly experimental squad for these matches having already been eliminated. Their 3-0 defeat to Croatia on Saturday was no surprise given that only 8 members of the squad has more than 10 caps and even more worryingly only captain Ivelin Popov has more than 3 international goals to his name.

This is a chance for some of the younger players to stake a case for a regular starting berth in what hasn’t been the most inspiring of sides of late. An inexperienced Bulgaria should have enough to avoid defeat against an Azerbaijan side that hasn’t won an away game in 4 years but a point apiece is a likely outcome and you can back it to finish 1-1 at 6/1.