2020–21 Azerbaijan Premier League

The 2020–21 Azerbaijan Premier League was the 29th season of the Azerbaijan Premier League, the highest tier football league of Azerbaijan. The season began on 21 August 2020 and ended on 19 May 2021.[1]

Azerbaijan Premier League
Season2020–21
Dates21 August 2020 – 19 May 2021
ChampionsNeftçi Baku
RelegatedNone
Champions LeagueNeftçi Baku
Matches played112
Goals scored266 (2.38 per match)
Top goalscorerNamik Alaskarov
(19 goals)
Biggest home winQarabağ 6–1 Keşla
(1 November 2020)
Qarabağ 6–1 Sumgayit
(21 November 2020)
Biggest away winNeftçi Baku 0–6 Qarabağ
(8 November 2020)
Highest scoringQarabağ 6–1 Keşla
(1 November 2020)
Qarabağ 6–1 Sumgayit
(21 November 2020)
Longest winning run5 matches
Neftçi Baku
Longest unbeaten run11 matches
Qarabağ
Longest winless run14 matches
Keşla
Longest losing run6 matches
Sabah
All statistics correct as of 4 May 2021.

Neftçi Baku were the champions, winning the league for the 9th time in their history and ending Qarabağ FK’s 7 year winning streak. They qualified for the first qualifying round of the 2021–22 Champions League. Qarabağ and Sumgayit earned places in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Teams
Locations of the 2020–21 Azerbaijan Premier League teams.
Team in italics is from a zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and is playing its home games in Baku.

Stadia and locations
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Year Established Location Venue Capacity[2]
Gabala 1995[3][4] Qabala Gabala City Stadium 4,500
Keşla 1997[5] Keshla ASK Arena 5,800
Neftchi Baku 1906/1937 Baku Bakcell Arena 10,200
Qarabağ 1951/1987 Aghdam Azersun Arena 5,200
Sabah 2017 Absheron Bank Respublika Arena 13,000
Sabail 2016 Səbail Bayil Arena 3,200
Sumgayit 2010 Sumqayit Kapital Bank Arena 1,400
Zira 2014 Zira Zira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium 1,300

Stadiums
Gabala Keşla Qarabağ Neftçi Baku
Gabala City Stadium ASK Arena Azersun Arena Bakcell Arena
Capacity: 4,500 Capacity: 5,800 Capacity: 5,200 Capacity: 10,200
Sabah Sabail Sumgayit Zira
Bank Respublika Arena ASCO Arena Kapital Bank Arena Zira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium
Capacity: 13,000 Capacity: 3,200 Capacity: 1,400 Capacity: 1,300

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team President Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Gabala Azerbaijan Fariz Najafov Azerbaijan Elmar Bakhshiyev Azerbaijan Asif Mammadov Spain Joma Milla
Keşla Azerbaijan Zaur Akhundov Azerbaijan Yunis Huseynov Azerbaijan Ilkin Qirtimov Spain Joma Samaya LTD
Neftçi Baku Azerbaijan Kamran Guliyev Azerbaijan Samir Abbasov Azerbaijan Emin Mahmudov United States Nike Turkish Airlines
Qarabağ Turkey Abdolbari Gozal Azerbaijan Gurban Gurbanov Azerbaijan Maksim Medvedev Germany Adidas Azersun
Sabah Azerbaijan Magsud Adigozalov Azerbaijan Ramin Guliyev (Acting Head Coach) Azerbaijan Ruslan Abışov United States Nike Bank Respublika
Sabail Azerbaijan Rashad Abdullayev Azerbaijan Aftandil Hacıyev Azerbaijan Rahid Amirguliyev United States Nike AzTea
Sumgayit Azerbaijan Riad Rafiyev Azerbaijan Aykhan Abbasov Azerbaijan Vurğun Hüseynov Germany Jako Pasha Insurance, Azərikimya
Zira Azerbaijan Taleh Nasibov Azerbaijan Rashad Sadygov Azerbaijan Aghabala Ramazanov Spain Joma Bakcell, Azfargroup

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Sabah Croatia Željko Sopić Resigned 3 July 2020[6] Pre-season Spain Vicente Gómez 10 July 2020.[7]
Zira Azerbaijan Zaur Hashimov End of contract 17 July 2020 Pre-season Azerbaijan Rashad Sadygov 17 July 2020[8]
Keşla Azerbaijan Tarlan Ahmedov End of contract 8 August 2020[9] Pre-season Azerbaijan Yunis Huseynov 16 August 2020[10]
Neftchi Azerbaijan Fizuli Mammedov Resigned 11 November 2020[11] 4th Azerbaijan Samir Abbasov 11 November 2020[11]
Keşla Azerbaijan Yunis Huseynov Resigned 24 January 2021[12] 7th Azerbaijan Sanan Gurbanov 25 January 2021[13]
Sabah Spain Vicente Gómez Mutual termination 11 March 2021[14] Pre-season Azerbaijan Ramin Guliyev (Acting Head Coach) 11 March 2021[14]

Foreign players

A team could use only six foreign players on the field in each game.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 Player 8 Player 9 Player 10 Player 11
Gabala Albania Jurgen Goxha Brazil Raphael Alemão Croatia Vinko Međimorec Georgia (country) Merab Gigauri Montenegro Stefan Vukčević Nigeria James Adeniyi Slovenia Nicolas Rajsel Togo Yaovi Akakpo
Keşla Moldova Eugeniu Cociuc Brazil Sílvio Cameroon Anatole Abang Mali Sadio Tounkara Moldova Stanislav Namașco Montenegro Mijuško Bojović Paraguay César Meza Colli Sierra Leone John Kamara
Neftçi Albania Bruno Telushi Brazil Rener Pavão Brazil Thallyson France Steeven Joseph-Monrose Guinea Mamadou Kane Japan Keisuke Honda Morocco Sabir Bougrine Nigeria Yusuf Lawal Senegal Mamadou Mbodj Serbia Vojislav Stanković Bulgaria Ahmed Ahmedov
Qarabağ Colombia Kevin Medina Cape Verde Patrick Andrade Serbia Uroš Matić Croatia Filip Ozobić Spain Jaime Romero France Abdellah Zoubir Ghana Owusu Kwabena
Sabah Republic of the Congo Kévin Koubemba Croatia Mario Marina Guinea Amadou Diallo Ivory Coast Tiemoko Fofana Ukraine Zurab Ochihava Paraguay Julio Rodríguez Serbia Filip Ivanović Serbia Saša Stamenković Uruguay Álvaro Villete Ukraine Dmytro Klyots
Sabail Georgia (country) Luka Imnadze Guatemala Nicholas Hagen Iran Peyman Keshavarzi North Macedonia Florijan Kadriu South Africa Hendrick Ekstein North Macedonia Milovan Petrovikj Sierra Leone Alie Sesay
Sumgayit Canada Martin Balco Iran Hojjat Haghverdi Iran Mehdi Sharifi Russia Dzhamaldin Khodzhaniyazov Russia Mehdi Jannatov
Zira Brazil Matheus Albino Georgia (country) Davit Volkovi Greece Dimitrios Chantakias Mozambique Clésio Serbia Nemanja Andjelkovic Serbia Lazar Đorđević Cameroon Rodrigue Bongongui Argentina Facundo Melivilo Brazil Filipe Pachtmann

In bold: Players that capped for their national team.

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Neftçi Baku (C) 28 18 5 5 47 25 +22 59 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Qarabağ 28 16 9 3 64 18 +46 57 Qualification to Europa Conference League second qualifying round
3 Sumgayit 28 10 9 9 30 31 −1 39
4 Zira 28 8 14 6 28 28 0 38
5 Sabah 28 7 8 13 28 38 −10 29
6 Keşla 28 5 11 12 25 40 −15 26 Qualification to Europa Conference League second qualifying round
7 Gabala 28 5 11 12 23 44 −21 26
8 Sabail 28 5 9 14 21 42 −21 24
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored.[15]
(C) Champions

Fixtures and results

Clubs played each other four times for a total of 28 matches each.

Season statistics

Top scorers
As of matches played 19 May 2021
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Azerbaijan Namik Alaskarov Neftçi 19
2 Azerbaijan Mahir Emreli Qarabağ 18
3 Croatia Filip Ozobić Qarabağ 11
4 Azerbaijan Ali Ghorbani Sumgayit 9
5 Georgia (country) Davit Volkovi Zira 8
Azerbaijan Rahim Sadikhov Sumgayit
7 Azerbaijan Mirabdulla Abbasov Neftçi 7
Ghana Owusu Kwabena Qarabağ
9 Azerbaijan Amil Yunanov Sabail 6
France Abdellah Zoubir Qarabağ

Clean sheets
As of matches played 25 February 2021
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Brazil Matheus Albino Zira 7
2 Azerbaijan Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev Qarabağ 6
3 Azerbaijan Agil Mammadov Neftçi 5
4 Azerbaijan Anar Nazirov Gabala 4
Russia Mehdi Jannatov Sumgayit
6 Moldova Stanislav Namașco Keşla 3
Guatemala Nicholas Hagen Sabail
8 Serbia Saša Stamenković Sabah 2
Azerbaijan Aydin Bayramov Sumgayit

See also

References
  1. "Azərbaycan Premyer Liqasının startı müəyyənləşdi". www.pfl.az (in Azerbaijani). PFL. 8 August 2020.
  2. Azərbaycan Peşəkar Liqası (in Azerbaijani)
  3. "Qəbələ – 10". gabalafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Gabala FK. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  4. Establishment of SC Qabala Archived 23 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Arts, Sports & Events". Official Khazar University website. 2006. Archived from the original on 27 March 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  6. "SABAH FC PARTED WAYS WITH ZELJKO SOPIC". sabahfc.az/. Sabah FC. 3 July 2020.
  7. "SABAH FC OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCE VICENTE GOMEZ AS NEW HEAD COACH". sabahfc.az/. Sabah FC. 10 July 2020.
  8. ""Zirə" PFK – nın baş məşqçisinin adı məlum olub. Komandanın yeni baş məşqçisi Rəşad Sadıqov olacaq". fczire.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  9. ""Keşlə" FK-nın məlumatı". www.keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 8 August 2020.
  10. ""Keşlə" Futbol Klubunun məlumatı". www.keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 16 August 2020.
  11. ""Neftçi"də yeni baş məşqçi" (in Azerbaijani). Neftchi PFK. 11 November 2020.
  12. "Yunis Hüseynov istefa verib". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  13. "Sənan Qurbanov "Keşlə"də!". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  14. "VİSENTE QOMESLƏ YOLLAR AYRILDI". sabahfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  15. "Premyer Liqa: Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
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