The league table is allowed to rest as Neftçi and Zira battle for Azerbaidjan Cup honors in this first Quarter-finals leg of two fixtures.
Both teams should be fairly well rested for this game, as they have had some quiet days to prepare. Hopefully this will translate into lots of action on the pitch.
Neftçi form and stats
Last season, Neftçi's Azerbaidjan Cup journey ended in the quarter-finals.Neftçi have collected 11 points from their Premier League home games so far after 3-2-2.
Neftçi are returning here after visiting Sebail in a Premier League game and winning with a 3-1 scoreline. E. Mahmudov and S. Bougrine scored the goal(s). Previous to that game, a Premier League home match hosting Kesl FK in a game that was won 2-1.
Neftçi have scored 6 league goals here from 7 matches, not a lot. Defensively it’s touch-and-go for the home team as 11 goals have been conceded.
Zira form and stats
Zira was sent out of Azerbaidjan Cup in the quarter-finals last season.Playing away, Zira have won 3 games, drawn 2 and suffered 2 defeats in the Premier League this season.
Prior to that match, a home win 2-0 against Qabala in the Premier League.
As mentioned above, Zira was the only team on the pitch versus Qaradag Lokbatan in their previous game, winning 4-0. This could be a tougher task. It was a convincing performance from Zira when Qaradag Lokbatan were beaten. The team "killed" the match in the first half leading 4-0 and the second half was comfortable. D. Volkovi (2) and R. Qurbanov scored their goals.
The visiting Zira have scored more than one goal per away game in the league so far. The grand total is 10 goals from 7 games. As opposed to that, Zira have seen the ball go into their own net 9 times on the road.
Head 2 Head
Head-to-head totals (for the last ten meetings): Neftçi won four games, four matches ended with a draw and Zira has two wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: five / fiveTop Goalscorers
  N. Ələsgərov 8 goals |   A. Ramazanov 5 goals |  D. Volkovi 5 goals |
Neftçi missing players
Zira missing players
| Neftçi | Zira | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 12 | 6 | Won | W | 6 | 12 | ||
| 6 | 4 | Drew | D | 3 | 6 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Lost | L | 4 | 7 | ||
| 34 | 18 | Scored | S | 20 | 36 | ||
| 30 | 18 | Conceded | C | 16 | 30 | ||
| 88% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 85% | 84% | ||
| 76% | 85% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 77% | 72% | ||
| 52% | 54% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 62% | 52% | ||
| 28% | 31% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 38% | 36% | ||
| 8% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 15% | 16% | ||
| 52% | 62% | BTTS | BTTS | 54% | 44% | ||
| 32% | 23% | Clean Sheets | C S | 38% | 44% | ||
| 28% | 23% | Failed to Score | F T | 23% | 28% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.4 | 3 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.5 | 2.5 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Red cards | R C | 6 | 7 | ||
| 10.1 | 11.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 7.5 | 6.5 | ||
| 4.4 | 4.7 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.5 | 3.1 | ||
| 32% | 30% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 36% | 33% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Neftçi | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 27 |
| 2 | Qarabag | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 33 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 22 | 26 |
| 3 | Zira | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 23 |
| 4 | Sumqayt | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 12 | -3 | 19 |
| 5 | Qabala | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 13 | -9 | 15 |
| 6 | Sebail | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | -4 | 13 |
| 7 | Sabah | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 9 | -5 | 13 |
| 8 | Kesl FK | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | -8 | 13 |