Sunday Football Tips: Azeris to edge friendly at tasty 10-3

Moldova v Azerbaijan
Sunday 6 June, 17:00
Live on Sky Sports Red Button

The problems with props bets in friendlies reared their head again yesterday with Wales resting Dan James against Albania for what turned out to be a dreary game.

So it's back to the goals markets which provided this column with a 12/5 winner on Friday.

It could be another dull affair when Moldova host Azerbaijan but punters can use that to their advantage.

Moldova have played 12 games this season and scored just three goals. Eight of those matches have seen under 2.5 goals.

Goalscoring has been a long-term problem with the Moldovans having netted only 12 goals in their last 34 games. Three of those came against San Marino.

As for Azerbaijan, they have gone under 2.5 in seven of their 12 and the other five have all had three goals.

A goal-fest seems unlikely.

Unsurprisingly, the under 2.5 goals option is a short price - 40/85 - but there are more attractive odds to be had in other related markets.

With Azerbaijan having been more competitive of the two sides in the Nations League - a competition which pits sides of similar quality against each other - I'm happy to side with them to edge this one.

In the 2018/19 Nations League they lost only once and won 3-0 away to the Faroe Islands, while in the latest edition last autumn they claimed victory in Cyprus and picked up points in Slovenia and Luxembourg with clean sheets.

Only last week they won 2-1 in Belarus, a result which came hot on the heels of a 2-1 defeat away to Euro 2020 qualifiers Turkey.

Having kept a clean sheet in the majority of their Nations League matches across two campaigns, they look capable of keeping the goal-shy Moldovans out so backing them to win with under 2.5 goals in the match looks a value play at 10/3.

Read in-depth verdicts from our expert betting writers in our mega team-by-team guide