Faroe Islands vs Azerbaijan Predictions

The Faroe Islands continue their push for top spot in their UEFA Nations League group, as they clash with Azerbaijan on Thursday. This tight group is currently being led by Kosovo, with one of the four teams in the pool getting the chance to fight for a Euro 2020 slot. That’s a huge prize to countries of this size, and both of these will be hunting for a spot in the play-offs. Can either of them grab all three points in Thursday’s meeting and take a huge step towards a first tournament appearance?

Kosovo beat the Faroes last time out, and that victory put them top of the pile. However, things started out much better for the Islanders, as they beat Malta 3-1 in their first home game in this competition. That victory has put them in good standing to kick on in this tournament, but can they take all three points from Azerbaijan? Despite being the hosts, the Faroes are seen as outsiders with the bookies ahead of this encounter.

Azerbaijan failed to win either of their first two, drawing at home to Kosovo and away to Malta. Those two fixtures gave them hopes of a strong start, which would have been huge. After all, Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, is hosting games at the pan-European tournament in 2020. Making the Euros is a huge ambition for the visitors, but their hopes of finally landing a win don’t look that great here.

Azerbaijan’s back to back draws look like an improvement over their form in the World Cup qualifiers. They lost six of their last seven matches, with their only win coming at home to San Marino. Overall, their push for Russia saw them fail to win their last four away trips in the qualifiers, which they followed up with a below par draw at the group’s bottom side.

Azerbaijan’s losing streak is a worry given that the Faroes are unbeaten in five at home. They’ve claimed back to back home wins over Malta and Liechtenstein, while they only lost to Switzerland and Portugal at home during qualifying. Draws with Latvia and Hungary showed a defensive solidity, which should be repeated here. After all, the visitors’ top international scorer in this squad has six goals from 33 caps, while upfront their four strikers have scored seven international goals across 65 appearances. That has us favouring the hosts here, so we’re backing them Draw No Bet.