Malta v Azerbaijan background
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Article summary
Malta have reason to be looking forward to their 100th UEFA European Championship game, with Azerbaijan having had a tough time in past visits to the island.
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Article body
Malta are firmly fixed to the bottom of UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group H as they welcome Azerbaijan, a side they have beaten three times at home.
• Paul Fenech is suspended after accumulating three bookings. The following players are a yellow card away from a ban: Andrei Agius, Jonathan Caruana (Malta) and Dmitrij Nazarov (Azerbaijan).
Previous meetings
• Azerbaijan beat Malta 2-0 in Baku in March in what was the teams' first competitive fixture; they had previously met in four friendly games, with Malta registering three wins to Azerbaijan's one.
• Malta have won all three of their home matches against Azerbaijan, with nine goals scored and none conceded.
Form guide
• Malta have lost their last nine competitive home fixtures and have yet to score at home in Group H.
• A total of 22 games have passed (D3 L19) since their last competitive home victory, 2-1 against Hungary on 11 October 2006.
• Azerbaijan are without a win in 13 competitive away matches (D4 L9) since a 2-0 success in Liechtenstein on 10 October 2009.
• Azerbaijan's 0-0 draw against Croatia last time out means they have yet to concede in three Group H games under new coach Robert Prosinečki, the first of them being that 2-0 win against Malta in Baku.
Trivia and links
• This is Malta's 100th UEFA European Championship outing.
• The two countries' clubs have met in four UEFA competition fixtures, with the Azerbaijani side winning three and drawing one. Most recently, Qarabağ FK overcame Valletta FC 1-0 away and 4-0 at home in last season's UEFA Champions League second qualifying round.
