Our prediction for this Nations League match:
Malta
Match Time & Date:
10/09/2018
02:45 PM
Prediction: 0-3
Azerbaijan
The National Stadium in Ta’Qali will be the venue for the League D, Group 3 match between the hosts Malta and Azerbaijan. In the six matches they have met in so far, Malta has a better record winning the first three encounters only for Azerbaijan to win the next two. The last match was a 2:2 draw. For Azerbaijan to have a chance of winning this group they will have to go and beat Malta away. Malta haven’t won a match in their last 10 games and have only managed two draws. They lost to Georgia in their last match. Azerbaijan have managed to secure three wins, two of which came in the last three matches. They beat Kyrgyzstan 3:0 and then, in the last game ahead of the League of Nations, they defeated Latvia 3:1 away from home. Everything points to them winning another away fixture, this time in Malta.
Highlighted Player (André Schembri):
Andre Schembri is a Malta international who was born in Floriana on May 27, 1986. Schembri started his youth career at his hometown club Floriana, but he played for fellow Maltese side Hibernians at the start of his senior career. The experienced attacker scored ten goals in 44 appearances for the club before joining Marsaxlokk in 2005. After spending four seasons at the club he moved to Austria Karnten in 2009 and it has to be noted that he played on loan for the likes of Eintracht Braunschweig and Calr Zeiss Jena during his spell with Marsaxlokk.
Andre Schembri did not spend too much time in Austria as he moved to Hungary in the winter of 2010, signing a deal with Ferencvaros. The Maltese striker played for the likes of Panionios, Omonia, FSV Frankfurt, Omonia and Boavista before joining Apollon Limassol in June 2017. Andre Schembri signed a two-year deal with the Cypriot side and he quickly started paying off.
You should bear in mind that the Malta international scored four goals in the 2017/2018 Europa League qualifiers and, no doubt, he helped the Cypriot side book their place in the group stages of the European competition.
Highlighted Team (Azerbaijan):
Azerbaijan footballers were playing for Soviet Union national team from 1920 to 1991. In 1991 Azerbaijan gained its independence and they have been competing on the international stage ever since. The Azeri have yet to qualify for the finals of a major tournament, but they have been producing fine performances ever since Robert Prosinecki took over the reins.
On September 17, 1992 the Milli suffered a 6-3 loss to Georgia in their first international match and seven years later they recorded their biggest win, with the team beating Liechtenstein 4-0 in front of home fans in Baku. The Azerbaijan national football team wear blue shirts and blue shorts when playing at home ground, while the colour of their away kit is red.
Gurban Gurbanov is the most capped played (68) and the legendary attacker, who played for Azerbaijan from 1992 to 2005), scored 14 goals for the national team. It has to be noted that the former Soviet republic play their home matches at Baku Olympic Stadium, which was opened on March 6, 2015.
