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

Lithuania will be aiming to make it back-to-back wins in the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League when they welcome Azerbaijan on Sunday evening.

The hosts have already started their League D Group 2 campaign, beating Liechtenstein 2-0 on Thursday, but this will represent Azerbaijan's first game in the section.

Match preview

Due to the removal of League D for the 2028-29 edition of the Nations League, all teams will be promoted from League C, but the tournament still represents the chance to put some valuable wins on the board and build confidence and indeed trust for the future.

Lithuania started their League D Group 2 campaign on Thursday evening, recording a 2-0 victory over Liechtenstein, with Lukas Michelbrink and Artur Dolzikov on the scoresheet.

Edgaras Jankauskas' side will follow this match with a friendly against Andorra on September 30, before facing Azerbaijan again away from home on October 4.

Lithuania lost all six of their matches in the 2024-25 Nations League, so their win last time out was a major step forward for the national side.

The National Team have faced Azerbaijan on three occasions throughout history, boasting a record of one win, one draw and one defeat.

The last match between these two sides took place in March 2019, with the friendly finishing 0-0.

Azerbaijan will enter this game off the back of a 1-0 victory over Tajikistan in a friendly on Wednesday, while they also beat San Marino on June 9, so the visitors are bidding to record a third straight win in this Nations League fixture.

Aykhan Abbasov's side have three Nations League fixtures during this international period, following this match with a home fixture against Liechtenstein on October 1, before welcoming Lithuania in the return fixture three days later.

Azerbaijan were relegated from League C in the 2024-25 tournament, and this is their first Nations League campaign in League D since 2018-19.

Lithuania Nations League form:

Lithuania form (all competitions):

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Azerbaijan form (all competitions):

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Team News

Lithuania have not reported any fresh injury problems ahead of this match.

Given the nature of the performance and result last time out, it would not be a surprise to see the same XI take to the field for the clash with Azerbaijan.

Armandas Kucys is once again expected to feature in the final third of the field, while there is also set to be a position in midfield for Michelbrink.

As for Azerbaijan, Mahir Emreli and Renat Dadasov could feature as the front two on Sunday.

Emin Mahmudov is a standout player in midfield, scoring 16 times for the national side, and he will once again line up for the visitors against Lithuania.

There is also huge experience at the back, with Badavi Guseynov and Anton Kryvotsyuk both in line to feature from the first whistle in this League D fixture.

Lithuania possible starting lineup:

Bartkus; Sirvys, Kazukolovas, Utkas, Tutyskinas; Gineitis, Vorobjovas, Michelbrink; Jankauskas, Kucys, Lasickas

Azerbaijan possible starting lineup:

Balayev; Guseynov, Bayramov, Mammadov, Badalov; Mahmudov, Khaybulayev, Isayev, Sadykhov; Emreli, Dadasov

We say: Lithuania 1-1 Azerbaijan

This is a tough match to call, and we are expecting it to be close in terms of the scoreline. Cases can be made for either to win it, but a tight fixture could finish all square.

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