Azerbaijan v Ireland betting tips: Pressure on Kenny in Baku
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Azerbaijan v Ireland betting tips and odds
Republic of Ireland face Azerbaijan on Saturday with question marks surrounding the future of manager Stephen Kenny despite a 1-1 draw with Serbia last time out and a near miss against Portugal.
The Irish have won just one of their 16 matches under Kenny’s stewardship, a comeback victory in a friendly at Andorra, although they are 6/5 favourites to win their first competitive game.
Both teams are almost certainly out of the running for Qatar but we’re taking a look at some of the markets in our Azerbaijan v Ireland betting tips.
Match Odds
Shane Duffy’s late header ensured Republic of Ireland avoided an embarrassing defeat against Azerbaijan last month and another draw is priced at 2/1, with goals thrown into the equation 18/5.
Kenny has been blooding young players throughout his tenure but his football philosophy has come under criticism as the Irish face a fifth successive absence from the World Cup.
He said: “I think the players’ attitude has been excellent, the spirit is excellent, but we have to turn that into wins. We realise that and I think we have to bring that into the game and try to get that win.
“The players are very determined, they have shown a terrific attitude and we want to go and win the game on Saturday.”
The Azeris’ last competitive win came against Cyprus in the Nations League over a year ago and their draw in Dubin is their only point of the campaign, but they are 13/5 to pull off what would hardly be a shock win.
They lost 3-0 at home to Portugal last time out and having scored just three times in qualifying, under 2.5 goals looks about right at 4/9.
Under 1.5 goals in the first half, two or fewer in the second and either team to win looks an interesting option at evens, as does either a 0-0 or 1-1 draw at 11/5 for Saturday’s Azerbaijan v Ireland betting tips.
Talking Tactics
Kenny is supposedly a fan of bringing the ball out from the back and playing possession-based football, but their success over the years has been based on set-pieces and getting the ball out wide to deliver crosses for a big centre forward.
Despite their poor results under Kenny, Ireland went desperately close to winning in Portugal at the start of September only for Cristiano Ronaldo to spoil the party with a last-minute equaliser and a winner deep into stoppage time.
Huge honour receiving my caps from an Irish legend @FAIreland 🇮🇪☘️ pic.twitter.com/JHyB01joBY
— Shane Duffy (@shaneduffy) October 6, 2021
Kenny prefers three at the back in a 3-4-2-1 system in which Callum Robinson could be back in the starting line-up after recovering from a second bout of Covid.
Azerbaijan went with a 4-3-3 at the Aviva Stadium and will be pinning their hopes on midfielder Emin Makhmudov who has scored all three of his country’s goals in qualifying.
Goalscorer Odds
Norwich striker Adam Idah is the 5/1 co-favourite to get the ball rolling, while Aaron Connolly and Robinson are both 11/2 to break the deadlock.
Two of Ireland’s five goals have come from defenders Duffy and John Egan who are 15/2 and 9/1 to get on the scoresheet.
Makhmudov is 13/2 to score his fourth goal of the campaign and 14/1 to bag the game’s opener as the last of our Azerbaijan v Ireland betting tips.
Match Info
Where: Baki Olimpiya Stadionu, Baku
When: 17:00, Saturday 9th October
How to watch: Sky Sports
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
