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Slovakia will host Azerbaijan at the Anton Malatinský Stadium on Thursday night in another round of their UEFA Nations League group stage campaign.
The Falcon have had mixed results in the continental showpiece so far after a 1-0 win over Belarus in their opening game. They were beaten 2-1 by Kazakhstan in their last game, finding themselves two goals down at the break before Matus Bero halved the deficit in the second half with his first-ever international goal.
Slovakia sit second in their group with six points from four games. Failure to win on Thursday will extinguish their promotion ambitions as they currently sit four points away from the top of the pile.
Azerbaijan have not fared much better than their hosts as they kicked off their Nations League campaign sluggishly. However, they picked up their first win in the competition last time out, beating Belarus 2-0 via second-half strikes from Mahir Emreli and Ramil Sheydaev.
The visitors sit a place and are two points behind their midweek opponents in the group standings. They will be looking to build on their latest result when they play this week.
Slovakia vs Azerbaijan Head-to-Head
Thursday's game will mark the 10th meeting between Slovakia and Azerbaijan. The hosts have won eight of their previous matchups, while the visitors have won the other.
The two sides last faced off in the reverse meeting of the midweek fixture, which the home team won 1-0.
Slovakia Form Guide (All Competitions): L-W-L-W-W
Azerbaijan Form Guide (All Competitions): W-L-D-L-L
Slovakia vs Azerbaijan Team News
Slovakia
Ondrej Duda received a red card against Kazakhstan last time out and has been suspended from Thursday's game as a result. Lukas Haraslin is struggling with a knee injury and is a doubt for this one.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Lukas Haraslin
Suspended: Ondrej Duda
Azerbaijan
Gismat Aliyev remains out with a suspension after getting sent off against Belarus back in June and will not feature for the visitors on Thursday.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Gismat Aliyev
Slovakia vs Azerbaijan Predicted XI
Slovakia Predicted XI (4-4-2): Marek Rodak; Peter Pekarik, Lubomir Satka, Martin Valjent, Vernon De Marco; Juraj Kucka, Stanislav Lobotka, Patrik Hrosovsky, Tomáš Suslov; Albert Rusnak, David Strelec
Azerbaijan Predicted XI (3-5-2): Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev; Dzhalal Huseynov, Bahlul Mustafazade, Bedavi Huseynov; Abbas Huseynov, Emin Makhmudov, Eddy Silvestre, Richard Almeida, Azar Salahly; Renat Dadashov, Ramil Sheydaev
Slovakia vs Azerbaijan Prediction
Slovakia have lost two of their last three games after losing just one of their six prior. They are winless in their last two games on home soil and will aim to end that streak this week.
Azerbaijan's latest result ended a 13-game winless streak across all competitions but marked just their second win in almost two years. The sheer gulf in class and quality between the two sides should see the home team win.
Prediction: Slovakia 2-0 Azerbaijan
