Preview: Sweden vs. Azerbaijan - prediction, team news, lineups

Both nations will be aiming to bounce back from defeat when Sweden host Azerbaijan in Group F of Euro 2024 qualifying on Monday.

Sweden were beaten 3-0 at home to Belgium in their opening match, while Azerbaijan were defeated 4-1 away to Austria.

Match preview

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Indeed, that victory for Austria combined with Sweden's surprisingly heavy defeat to Belgium has heaped the pressure on Janne Andersson and his players to bounce back with a win at Friends Arena on Monday.

With the Belgians clear favourites to top Group F, Sweden and Austria could be fighting for the second automatic qualifying spot behind the Red Devils, with Austria simultaneously having another very winnable home game in front of them against Estonia on Monday.

Sweden have not failed to qualify for a European Championship since Euro 1996, having reached the last 16 last time out at Euro 2020, when they were knocked out by Ukraine after Artem Dovbyk's strike in extra time.

Having also taken the Blue and Yellow to the quarter-finals of World Cup 2018, Andersson has built up plenty of good will since being appointed as his home country's manager in June 2016, so the 60-year-old will be determined to continue that trend across the current qualifying campaign.

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Azerbaijan, meanwhile, have never qualified for a competitive tournament as an independent nation, with their hopes of reaching next summer's competition in Germany suffering a major blow at the hands of Austria on Friday.

Michael Gregoritsch's strike just before the half-hour mark was sandwiched by a brace from Marcel Sabitzer, with the two nations exchanging blows during the latter stages through Emin Mahmudov and Christoph Baumgartner.

Gianni De Biasi had travelled to Linz with plenty of confidence of causing an upset having put together an incredibly impressive run of five successive victories beforehand, but the extent to which they failed to compete will have caused the Italian plenty of concern.

With another tricky away match in Stockholm awaiting them on Monday, another defeat could spell curtains in terms of their hopes of securing an automatic qualification spot, as unlikely as that target may have seemed to outsiders in any case.

Team News

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his long-awaited comeback in a Sweden shirt during the second half of his nation's defeat to Belgium on Friday, and the 41-year-old is primed to start against Azerbaijan in an attempt to provide some inspiration to his teammates.

That would likely see Tottenham Hotspur man Dejan Kulusevski shift to a more natural right-sided role having started more centrally alongside Alexander Isak last time out, while Celtic defender Carl Starfelt may be primed for a starting berth.

Azerbaijan, of course, lack the squad depth compared to countries such as their forthcoming opponents, with De Biasi unlikely to make many changes despite his side's disappointing defeat to Austria.

However, Aleksey Isayev could be called upon to provide more creativity from midfield, with captain Mahmudov potentially dropping into a deeper role in the engine room despite scoring his 10th international goal during the 4-1 defeat.

Sweden possible starting lineup:

Olsen; Wahlqvist, Lindelof, Starfelt, Augustinsson; Kulusevski, Olsson, Svanberg, Forsberg; Ibrahimovic, Isak

Azerbaijan possible starting lineup:

Imanov; Haghverdi, Mustafazada, Hesenalizade, Cafarguliyev; Mahmudov, Eddy; Kokcu, Isayev, Sheydayev; Dadashov

We say: Sweden 2-0 Azerbaijan

Despite suffering a convincing defeat to Belgium on Friday, we expect Sweden to bounce back with a relatively comfortable victory against Azerbaijan at Friends Stadium.

Although the visitors do not represent the pushovers they may have done around a decade ago, the return of Ibrahimovic should provide plenty of character and ability to Sweden's frontline, especially with Kulusevski able to enjoy starting from a wider position.

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