Azerbaijan will welcome their Euro qualifying challengers this Saturday - located in the top two of Group F. The Belgians will be looking to consolidate their position in the group with a win in Baku, while their opponents Azerbaijan are currently at the bottom of the group with just one point.
Belgium's squad reshuffle continued in June, with the reshuffle coming against the backdrop of their disappointing World Cup performance under Roberto... New coach Domenico Tedesco took over in the spring after Romelu Lukaku's hat-trick helped Belgium to victory in their first qualifying match, before Belgium beat Germany 3-2 in a friendly.
The Belgian side then ended their 2022-23 season with a 1-1 draw at home to Austria and a 3-0 win over Estonia, with Romelu Lukaku scoring twice in the latter match. As a result, Tedesco's men are now second in the Group F table, having moved four points clear of third-placed Sweden on their way to the final stages of next summer's Europa League in Germany.
While vice-captain Romelu Lukaku and captain Jan Vertonghen have both earned more than 50 appearances with the national team, rising stars like Manchester City's Jeremy Doku and Eindhoven's Johan Bakayoko are injecting fresh blood into a Belgian side that has become stale in recent years.
On international days this month, Belgium will try to take all six points from their matches against Azerbaijan and Estonia and in doing so extend their unbeaten run to seven games.
In their last match, Azerbaijan picked up their first point of the qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw against Group E's other laggards, Estonia, at the Dalga Stadium.
Since taking over the Azerbaijan national team a few years ago, Italian coach Gianni de Biasi has witnessed the tough times the team has gone through.
The inability to win 13 consecutive games seriously threatened de Biasi's position and it was only when they beat Belarus, Slovakia and Kazakhstan in three consecutive games in the Confederation Nations League last summer that they stabilized the situation.
However, Azerbaijan's start to the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign has not gone well, as they were beaten in back-to-back games against Austria and Sweden, conceding nine goals in the process.
Predicting this match, it is clear that there is a huge power gap between the two teams and Belgium are expected to turn their dominance into a win. Azerbaijan being at home may make the difference between winning and losing the match a little less dramatic, but we still predict a 2-0 win for Belgium at the end of the match.
