The first round-robin cycle in the Misli Premier League concluded yesterday.
We contacted Aslan Karimov, the former Azerbaijan national team and Qarabag midfielder and respected football expert, to ask for his thoughts on the league and its teams.
The experienced specialist told Fanat.az:
“If we look at the table, we can see that some of our expectations have not been met. I thought I would see different teams among the frontrunners. The current situation is somewhat different. Sabah and Qarabag are still among the leaders. However, Neftchi moving into first place and Turan Tovuz beating both Qarabag and Sabah can be considered surprises to some extent. Nevertheless, looking at the overall picture, we can see that our expectations have largely remained unchanged. The top five consists of Neftchi, Qarabag, Sabah, Turan Tovuz and Zira. It was already apparent last season that these teams would be contenders and had greater potential than their rivals.
Kapaz and Shamakhi have also been pleasant surprises. Considering their budgets and resources, they have managed to compete on equal terms with some of their opponents. Shamakhi’s latest draw is one example of that. Kapaz’s victories over a number of teams also show the determination and fighting spirit they have displayed.
On the other hand, we also had certain expectations about which teams would occupy the bottom places in the league. We have seen an Araz-Nakhchivan side with good potential, particularly in terms of player quality, but one that has been unable to produce the performances expected of them. There have been coaching changes at the club. I do not know exactly what their financial situation is at present, but all of this naturally affects the team’s performances. Shafa, meanwhile, still cannot get a win. Frankly, it is difficult to predict how the situation will change by the end of the season. In any case, Shafa, Araz-Nakhchivan and Imishli fall into this group, and I would add Gabala to that list too. These teams have been inconsistent. Gabala have managed to recover somewhat in recent matches following their coaching change. However, each of these teams needs to improve their performances further, because the opponents they face are also strong.
Overall, assessing the first round-robin cycle of the league, I think most teams currently occupy positions that reflect their potential. There is no team we expected to be sixth that is now challenging for the lead. Equally, there is no team we expected to be near the top that has dropped into the lower reaches of the table. In other words, the overall picture has not been particularly surprising.
There have simply been a few unexpected developments in the battle between Neftchi, Qarabag and Sabah. For example, I had Sabah down as the leaders going into this round and thought they would remain top afterwards. However, dropped points and draws have caused Sabah to slip a little in the table. That said, this is normal and is something to be expected over the course of a season.
Qarabag deserve particular attention. Frankly, I did not expect the team to decline this much in the league this season. So many dropped points, successive poor results and their difficulties in scoring goals have come as a surprise to me. I think Qarabag’s decline has been somewhat excessive. Failing to score in three consecutive matches and dropping points in several games was not what we expected from this team. Of course, we knew there had been numerous changes to the squad, but I did not think they would affect the team to this extent”.
Alisahib Ibrahimli
This article was translated from Azerbaijani with the help of AI. Original in Azerbaijani
