In their third successive League C campaign, Azerbaijan sit rock-bottom of Group 1, yet to pick up a point from four fixtures and with time running out to save themselves from demotion.

The Azeris have certainly struggled to make their mark in the 2024-25 Nations League so far, losing 3-1 to both Sweden and Estonia - and twice to Slovakia.

Having been hired to improve Azerbaijan's fortunes, former European Championship winner Fernando Santos has proved unable to spark a revival, and they are on the brink of being pitched against minnows such as San Marino next time around.

Two of the teams that finish last in their League C groups - those with the worst records after all six matches - will be relegated next week, so Santos and co must at least win one of their last two to have any chance of survival.

Currently, they trail second-placed Luxembourg by two points in that four-nation mini-league, in which they also have the worst goal difference.

Azerbaijan's last success of any kind came at home to Kazakhstan in a June friendly, though they did take four points off Estonia in Euro 2024 qualifying before losing in Tallinn last month.

On that occasion, the hosts had only one-third of the ball, but they still secured maximum points thanks to goals from Ioan Yakovlev, Vlasiy Sinyavskiy and Rocco Robert Shein.

That remains Estonia's sole win this season, having twice lost 3-0 to promotion favourites Sweden after kicking off with a home defeat to Slovakia.

Having risen up the ranks by topping their League D table in the 2022-23 Nations League, the Blueshirts have been handed a reality check in Europe's third tier.

Jurgen Henn's side have conceded an average of two goals per game to this point, and they must now finish with two tough road trips: after travelling east to Qabala, they are bound for Slovakia on Tuesday.

In June 2023, when they last paid a visit to Azerbaijan during European Championship qualifying, Estonia came away with one point - and a repeat result this weekend would preserve their League C status.