Latvia vs Azerbaijan Prediction and Betting Tips

Latvia and Azerbaijan return to action on Saturday when they lock horns in a friendly at the Skonto Stadium. This will be the first meeting between the two nations since Paolo Nicolato’s side picked up a 1-0 victory in a similar friendly matchup in March 2022.

Latvia were sent crashing back down to earth in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in March when they fell to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of a star-studded England side.

Before that, Nicolato’s men snapped their four-game winless run on March 21 when they edged out Andorra 1-0 thanks to a second-half strike from Dario Sits.

Latvia now take a break from competitive action on Saturday as they look to pick up a morale-boosting result against an opposing side who have failed to win four of their previous five meetings.

Azerbaijan, on the other hand, were left empty-handed yet again as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Belarus in a friendly clash at the Bank Respublika Arena.

Fernando Santos’ side have now lost three games on the bounce and are without a win in their last eight matches across all competitions (7L 1D) since a 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan in June 2024. Azerbaijan are 119th in the latest FIFA World Rankings, 19 spots above this weekend’s hosts.

Latvia vs Azerbaijan Head-To-Head and Key Numbers

The results have been split right down the middle in the history of this fixture, with Latvia and Azerbaijan claiming one win each from their previous five meetings.
Azerbaijan have managed just one win from their most recent five friendly matches while losing three and picking up one draw — having won the four games preceding this run.
Latvia have failed to win any of their last four friendly games, losing twice and claiming two draws since a 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan in March 2022.
Azerbaijan are on a run of five back-to-back away defeats across all competitions, conceding 19 goals and scoring just twice since a 2-0 victory over Estonia in October 2023.

Latvia vs Azerbaijan Prediction

Latvia will be looking to return to winning ways and gather momentum ahead of their return to the World Cup qualifiers and we expect them to go all out in Riga.

However, Azerbaijan are slight favorites on paper and we predict they will hold out for a share of the spoils here.

Prediction: Latvia 2-2 Azerbaijan

Latvia vs Azerbaijan Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Draw

Tip 2: More than 4.5 cards - No (There have been fewer than five bookings in nine of Latvia’s last 10 games)

Tip 3: Over 10.5 corners - No (There have also been fewer than 11 corner kicks in six of Latvia’s last seven outings)

About the author

Joshua is a European and international football writer at Sportskeeda who covers news and match previews. He fell in love with the sport watching Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o win titles at club and international level, and his passion for the sport led him to become a professional football writer. He has an overall professional experience of 5 years.

Joshua supports Chelsea at club level, having witnessed a number of African stars break records with the club. Drogba’s equalizing header and match-winning shootout penalty for Chelsea against Bayern Munich in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final left a last impact on him. His favorite player is Eden Hazard and favorite manager is Jose Mourinho, who gave him the most joyous days as a Blues supporter. He believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is unlucky to be born in Messi’s era and favors the Argentine in the G.O.A.T. debate.

Joshua also follows the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the Nigeria Professional Football League and loves to play football during his free time. Having attained a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan, he employs his problem-solving skills in crafting articles while doing extensive research to ensure each article is well thought out and crafted.

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