Azerbaijan vs. Lithuania - prediction, team news, lineups

Azerbaijan and Lithuania meet for the second time in seven days when both teams face off at Neftci Arena in Baku in a UEFA Nations League clash.  

The matchday three encounter in League D features two unbeaten sides, with Lithuania earning four points compared to their hosts’ two.

Previously, Azerbaijan would have approached Sunday’s Nations League clash with Lithuania looking to overtake their visitors with a victory.  

However, the change in the competition’s format after the 2026-27 season means that every side in League D advances to League C, regardless of their standing.  

This effectively turns this weekend’s match — and every other one in this phase — into a formality, even if results could affect the world rankings of the teams involved.  

With no pressure, Aykhan Abbasov’s side enter this weekend after back-to-back draws in Group 2 of League D, culminating in a 1-1 tie against Lithuania to conclude September before their game against Liechtenstein on Thursday ended goalless.  

Having gone winless in League C in the previous season, leading to their relegation, Milli Komanda are now without a victory in eight consecutive matches across Leagues C and D.  

It will be intriguing to see if that dismal run ends on Sunday, as Abbasov’s men aim to defeat the team ahead of them in their group with four points, even if final standings are irrelevant due to the promotion of every nation in League D to C.  

Nonetheless, Lithuania will strive to maintain their long-standing unbeaten streak in this fixture, even though both nations have only met four times in recorded history.  

Rinktine have not lost to Azerbaijan in three encounters since their opening match in June 1998, a gap of 28 years.  

Lithuania secured victory in their next meeting in March 2008, but the subsequent two contests ended in draws of 0-0 and 1-1.  

Little separated both teams in their most recent 1-1 draw in Kaunas, where both goals came in the opening 15 minutes, and the score remained unchanged for the rest of the match.  

With Edgaras Jankauskas’s team having ended a six-match losing streak in the Nations League by defeating Liechtenstein on September 24, the Tricolours aim for their second win in three to maintain their lead after the international break. 

Abbasov’s side appears to be in good health after facing Lithuania and Liechtenstein without injury concerns.  

However, Emin Mahmudov was an unused substitute for Azerbaijan when the teams met less than a week ago, yet no player for Milli Komanda has more than the Neftci star’s 16 goals, making him the likely focal point in attack.  

Armandas Kucys is likely to take on that role for Lithuania, heading into the weekend with seven international goals, the highest in the squad.  

Gvidas Gineitis, who plays for Torino in Serie A, may also provide an attacking threat for Trispalves on Sunday. 

Balayev; Mutallimov, Badalov, Kryvotsyuk, Bayramov; Khaybulayev, Mahmudov; Emreli, Sadykhov, Isgandarli; Qurbanli

Bartkus; Armalas, Utkus, Tutyskinas; Lickunas, Michelbrink, Gineitis, Lasickas; Slivka, Dolznikov; Kucys

Although the competitive stakes have been entirely removed by the new promotion format, both nations will still see this encounter as a valuable opportunity to build momentum.  

With the sides evenly matched in their recent 1-1 draw and both having capable attacking options, we expect another closely fought affair to end in a hard-fought share of the spoils in Baku.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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