Preview: Azerbaijan vs Malta - prediction, team news, lineups

Azerbaijan play host to Malta in an international friendly on Friday as the two European nations continue their preparations for the next UEFA Nations League campaign.

This is their first meeting since 2022, an occasion when Malta ended a 20-year winless streak against this opponent to prevail by a 1-0 scoreline.

Match preview

After a second successive World Cup qualifying campaign without recording a single win, it is back to the drawing board for Azerbaijan.

From September 2024 through to March this year, they put together a 16-game streak without success, albeit with draws against Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine during that period.

However, after only suffering a 3-1 defeat at home to France in November, FIFA World Series fixtures versus St Lucia and Sierra Leone brought some needed relief.

As expected, Azerbaijan cruised past Saint Lucia as they posted a 6-1 victory, before requiring a penalty-shootout to overcome Sierra Leone on the back of a 1-1 draw.

The early days of Aykhan Abbasov's reign have been greeted with optimism, but that would change should his team fail to overcome Malta.

While Malta accumulated just four points from eight World Cup qualifying fixtures, their 1-0 victory in Finland in November represented one of the most notable successes in their history.

Jake Grech's 81st-minute winner secured Malta just their fourth-ever win in World Cup qualifying, but momentum has been lost since that triumph in Scandanavia.

In their Nations League relegation playoff against Luxembourg in March, Emilio De Leo's team suffered a 5-0 aggregate defeat over the two legs.

On a more positive note, Malta only lost 2-1 in Slovakia on Monday, albeit the decisive goal being scored by the hosts in the 97th minute.

Azerbaijan form (all competitions):

L L L L W D

Malta form (all competitions):

L W L L L L

Team News

From the team that stormed past Saint Lucia, Rza Cafarov and Elvin Cafarquilyev are both missing from the Azerbaijan squad.

Therefore, goalkeeper Salahat Agayev and left-sided player Toral Bayramov could be selected in their places.

Despite a goalless campaign for Motor Lublin, one-time Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Renat Dadashov is expected to lead the line as he looks for the goal that would take him into joint-fifth in the all-time Azerbaijan goalscorers list.

Meanwhile, De Leo may decide to make minimal changes to his Malta XI after making a number of half-time substitutions against Slovakia.

Joseph Mbong scored his fourth international goal in 73 outings in that game, before his younger brother Paul Mbong replaced him.

Kurt Shaw and Matthew Guillaumier may potentially drop out of the side having played 94 minutes against Slovakia.

Azerbaijan possible starting lineup:

Agayev; Huseynov, Badalov, Dashdamirov; Aliyev, Mahmudov, Safarov, Bayramov; Sadykhov; Quarbanly, Dadashov

Malta possible starting lineup:

Bonello; Muscat, Scicluna, Shaw, Corbalan; Teuma, Guillaumier; Chouaref, Satariano, Ewurum; J Mbong

We say: Azerbaijan 1-0 Malta

With both teams having struggled for form over the past 12 months, we do not expect a game full of quality. However, home advantage may prove pivotal for Azerbaijan, and a hard-fought victory with a clean sheet would not come as a surprise.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.