Both teams’ recent run of poor form will make it harder to determine a winner in Friday’s Nations League clash.
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Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan take on each other in a clash between two European underdogs on Friday. Both teams are not in the best of forms, meaning the Division C fixture on Friday will be hard to call. Both sides will be looking to start their UEFA Nations League campaigns on a positive note. But for that, they both have to register a win, which is something these two teams have struggled to obtain in the recent past. Despite the match being played at Kazakhstan’s Astana Arena Stadium, the hosts will not be the clear favourites in this clash.
Both sides are not separated by a huge margin in terms of the FIFA rankings. Kazakhstan is placed at 125, while Azerbaijan is at 129. They both will be looking to overcome the disappointing campaigns they encountered during the last edition. Infact, Kazakhstan had to survive a relegation play-outs in March to remain at the third tier. Kazakhstan, which finished at the foot of their group during the last campaign, had to be involved in a two-legged playoff with Moldova in order to avoid dropping into the bottom tier of teams.
Kazakhstan won the away first leg 2-1 but Moldova did well to win the second leg 1-0 and took the match to a penalty shootout. After trailing in the early stages, Kazakhstan won the penalties 5-4. Now, the country will be keen to overturn its recent poor form. In all of 2021, Kazakhstan won only once and it was against Tajikistan in a friendly. On the other hand, Azerbaijan’s record is neither great, as their last victory was in June of last year against Belarus. They finished just two points ahead of bottom-placed Cyprus in their last Nations League campaign. Overall, both teams’ recent run of poor form will make it harder to determine a winner in Friday’s clash.
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The absence of Baqtiiar Zainutdinov, Aleksey Shchyotkin and Roman Murtazayev will be a problem for Kazahstan to deal with on Friday. As a result, Aybar Zhaksylykov could start the game or at the very least be involved on the bench. On the other hand, Azerbaijan’s main concern will be about its starting line-up. Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Renat Dadashov, who was part of the home defeat against Latvia in March, might find it difficult to keep hold of his place. It will be between him and Ramil Sheydayev to fight it out for the starting role up front.
Kazakhstan possible line-up: Shatskiy, Marochkin, Maliy, Alip, Bystrov, Vasiljev, Kuat, Tagybergen, Suyumbaev, Aymbetov, Zhaksylykov
Azerbaijan possible line-up: Agayev, Salahly, Haghverdi, Mustafazada, Medvedev, Mahmudov, Silvestre, Qarayev, Bayramov, Nazarov, Dadashov
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The UEFA Nations League match between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan will take place at the Astana Arena Stadium on Friday, 7:30 pm IST.
Select UEFA Nations League 2022-23 matches will be telecast live on the Sony TEN network in India. Besides, live streaming of these matches will be available on SonyLIV and JioTV apps and OTT platforms in India.
