Azerbaijan vs. Portugal 9/7/21 European World Cup Qualifications Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Azerbaijan is welcoming Portugal to Baku Olympic Stadium in round 6 of Group A of the World Cup Qualifications. Azerbaijan is not a good team, they are in bad form, and they haven’t won any of their last 3 games. Portugal is now on a 2-game winning streak, but they will be without Ronaldo for this match.

As I’ve mentioned, Azerbaijan is in terrible form, they have won only 1 of their last 13 games, and they are in the last place in this group. Azerbaijan has scored 3 goals in 4 games, but they have conceded 6 goals, and we will not be seeing them in the World Cup, probably ever. In their last game against Ireland on the road, Azerbaijan has had 41% of ball possession, 4 shots on goal, 3 corner kicks, 0 big chances created, and 75% of the correct passes. Surprisingly, Azerbaijan got ahead in the 46^th minute, but they couldn’t hold onto that lead, and the final score of this match was 1-1. Mukhmudov is the only goalscorer for Azerbaijan with 3 goals. There is nothing to expect from Azerbaijan, and I don’t think they expect anything from themselves anymore.

Portugal has released Ronaldo from their team early, and he was allowed to return to Manchester to prepare for the season, and I always say that is a good thing for this team. Portugal has won their last 2 games, but it took them a while against Ireland. With 10 points, Portugal is now in 2^nd place in their group, they have scored 8 goals while conceding 4 goals. In that game against Ireland, Portugal was the dominant team with 72% of ball possession, 7 shots on goal, 14 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and 88% of the correct passes. After they conceded a goal in the first half, Ronaldo scored a goal in the 89^th minute, and in the 96^th minute for a 2-1 win. Jota and Ronaldo are the leading goalscorers for Portugal with 3 goals. Portugal is a very good team, they have a lot of depth and quality on the bench, but I’m sure they wouldn’t like to go through the additional qualifications for the World Cup from second place.

Azerbaijan has never beaten Portugal in the past, while Portugal hasn’t lost any of their last 9 away games. It’s clear Portugal is the better team here, by a lot, and I see them getting another nice win in this game.