# 2024–25 Azerbaijan Premier League

The 2024–25 Azerbaijan Premier League is the 33rd season of the Azerbaijan Premier League, the highest tier football league of Azerbaijan.

## Teams
### Team changes

| Promoted from 2023–24 Azerbaijan First Division | Relegated to 2024–25 Azerbaijan First Division |
| Shamakhi | Gabala |

### Stadia and locations

    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Year Established | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Araz-Naxçıvan | 1967 | Nakhchivan, Baku | Dalga Arena | 6,500 |
| Kapaz | 1959 | Ganja, Tovuz | Tovuz City Stadium | 6,500 |
| Neftchi | 1937 | Baku | Neftchi Arena | 10,260 |
| Qarabağ | 1951 | Aghdam, Baku | Tofiq Bahramov Stadium | 31,200 |
| Sabah | 2017 | Absheron | Bank Respublika Arena | 8,600 |
| Sabail | 2016 | Sabail, Baku | ASCO Arena | 3,200 |
| Shamakhi | 1997 | Shamakhi | Shamakhi City Stadium | 2,200 |
| Sumgayit | 2010 | Sumgait | Mehdi Huseynzade Stadium | 8,700 |
| Turan Tovuz | 1992 | Tovuz | Tovuz City Stadium | 6,500 |
| Zira | 2014 | Zira, Baku | Zira Sport Complex | 1,300 |

### Stadiums

| Araz-Naxçıvan | Kapaz | Qarabağ | Neftçi | Sabah |
| Dalga Arena | Ganja City Stadium | Tofiq Bahramov Stadium | Neftchi Arena | Bank Respublika Arena |
| Capacity: 6,500 | Capacity: 26,000 | Capacity: 31,200 | Capacity: 10,260 | Capacity: 8,600 |
| Sabail | Shamakhi | Sumgayit | Turan Tovuz | Zira |
| ASCO Arena | Shamakhi City Stadium | Mehdi Huseynzade Stadium | Tovuz City Stadium | Zira Sport Complex |
| Capacity: 3,200 | Capacity: 2,200 | Capacity: 8,700 | Capacity: 6,500 | 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 |
| Araz-Naxçıvan | Ramin Akhundov | Elmar Bakhshiyev | Vadim Abdullayev | Hummel | Samaya Ltd |
| Kapaz | Ilgar Nadiri | Azer Baghirov | Vurğun Hüseynov | Joma | - |
| Neftçi | Kamran Guliyev | Samir Abbasov | Emin Mahmudov | Erreà | SOCAR |
| Qarabağ | Tahir Gozal | Gurban Gurbanov | Abdellah Zoubir | Adidas | Azersun |
| Sabah | Magsud Adigozalov | Vasili Berezutski | Elvin Jamalov | Nike | Bank Respublika |
| Sabail | Abdulgani Nurmammadov | Javid Huseynov | Yusif Nabiyev | Adidas | ASCO |
| Shamakhi | Elchin Usub | Aykhan Abbasov | Emin Zamanov | Joma |
| Sumgayit | Riad Rafiyev | Vagif Javadov | Vugar Mustafayev | Jako | Azerikimya |
| Turan Tovuz | Ogtay Abdullayev | Kurban Berdyev | Şehriyar Aliyev | Jako | Huner Group |
| Zira | Taleh Nasibov | Rashad Sadygov | Qismət Alıyev | Arem | Nar, Azfargroup |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Neftçi | Miodrag Božović | End of contract | 30 June 2024 | Pre-season | Roman Hryhorchuk | 1 July 2024 |
| Turan Tovuz | Aykhan Abbasov | | | Pre-season | Kurban Berdyev | 25 June 2024 |
| Neftçi | Roman Hryhorchuk | Mutual Agreement | 7 October 2024 | 9th | Samir Abbasov | 14 October 2024 |
| Sumgayit | Samir Abbasov | Signed by Neftçi | 14 October 2024 | 8th | Vagif Javadov (Interim) | |
| Sabah | Krunoslav Rendulić | Mutual agreement | 25 November 2024 | 5th | Vasili Berezutski | 25 November 2024 |
| Sumgayit | Vagif Javadov (Interim) | Made permanent | 8 January 2025 | 6th | Vagif Javadov | 8 January 2025 |

### Foreign players

Each team can use only seven 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 | Player 12 | Player 13 | Player 14 | Player 15 | Left during the season |
| Araz-Naxçıvan | Mićo Kuzmanović | Jatobá | Ramon Machado | Wanderson Maranhão | Igor Ribeiro | Felipe Santos | Issouf Paro | Ayyoub Allach | Cristian Avram | César Meza Colli | Benny | Nuno Rodrigues | | | | |
| Kapaz | Paná | Yegor Khvalko | Pachu | Rati Ardazishvili | Trent Buhagiar | Karim L'Koucha | Rogério | Diogo Verdasca | Mahamadou Ba | Shervoni Mabatshoev | | | | | | Redon Mihana Keverton Victor Braga Lassana N'Diaye |
| Neftçi | Yegor Bogomolsky | Alex Fernandes | Yuri Matias | Dembo Darboe | Robert Bauer | Bassala Sambou | Erwin Koffi | Ryonosuke Ohori | Edvin Kuč | Raphael Guzzo | Moustapha Seck | Alpha Conteh | Andriy Shtohrin | | | Andre Shinyashiki Brayan Moreno Márk Tamás Keelan Lebon |
| Qarabağ | Redon Xhixha | Yassine Benzia | Kady Borges | Matheus Silva | Leandro Andrade | Patrick Andrade | Kevin Medina | Fabijan Buntić | Abdellah Zoubir | Emmanuel Addai | Marko Janković | Marko Vešović | Mateusz Kochalski | Oleksiy Kashchuk | | Júlio Romão Juninho Hamidou Keyta |
| Sabah | Bojan Letić | Ygor Nogueira | Ivan Lepinjica | Joy-Lance Mickels | Kaheem Parris | Stas Pokatilov | Vincent Thill | Sofian Chakla | Jesse Sekidika | Njegoš Kupusović | Pavol Šafranko | Jon Irazabal | Umarali Rakhmonaliev | | | |
| Sabail | Amir Bilali | David Gomis | Madi Queta | Gitay Sofir | Soulyman Allouch | Ayman Bouali | Innocent Nshuti | Marko Nikolić | Gorka Larrucea | Dmytro Lytvyn | | | | | | |
| Shamakhi | Belajdi Pusi | Michael Thuíque | Brahim Konaté | Leroy Mickels | Vasilije Radenović | Ricardo Fernandes | Andrei Tîrcoveanu | Vasilije Bakić | Alphonce Msanga | Vladyslav Veremeev | | | | | | Jonathan Benteke Giorgi Kantaria |
| Sumgayit | Slaviša Radović | Alan Dias | Trésor Mossi | Ronaldo Vásquez | Giorgi Kharaishvili | Momo Yansané | Roi Kahat | Sylvanus Nimely | Miloš Milović | Easah Suliman | Jasurbek Jaloliddinov | Bobur Abdikholikov | | | | Fernando Medeiros Jordan Rezabala Nikola Vujnović Kristijan Velinovski |
| Turan Tovuz | Christian | Jô | Kauan | Alex Souza | Haiderson Hurtado | Arash Ghaderi | Denis Marandici | Roderick Miller | Aykhan Guseynov | Ivan Konovalov | Anton Krachkovsky | Sergey Samok | Álex Serrano | Emmanuel Hackman | | Otto John |
| Zira | Martins Júnior | Filipe Pachtmann | Ruan Renato | Raphael Utzig | Iron Gomis | Davit Volkovi | Giorgi Papunashvili | Salifou Soumah | Stephane Acka | Pierre Zebli | Issa Djibrilla | Yusuf Lawal | Eldar Kuliyev | Tiago Silva | Ange Mutsinzi | Abbas Ibrahim |
In italics:' Players that are on loan from another APL side.
In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Qarabağ | 27 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 65 | 16 | +49 | 64 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Zira | 27 | 16 | 4 | 7 | 44 | 22 | +22 | 52 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Araz-Naxçıvan | 27 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 27 | 22 | +5 | 47 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Turan Tovuz | 27 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 43 | |
| 5 | Sabah | 27 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 36 | 34 | +2 | 35 | |
| 6 | Neftçi | 27 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 31 | |
| 7 | Shamakhi | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 25 | 32 | −7 | 28 | |
| 8 | Sumgayit | 27 | 8 | 4 | 15 | 20 | 36 | −16 | 28 | |
| 9 | Kapaz | 27 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 22 | 52 | −30 | 23 | |
| 10 | Sabail | 27 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 41 | −20 | 18 | Relegation to Azerbaijan First Division |
* ↑ The 2024–25 Azerbaijan Cup winners qualify for the Europa League first qualifying round (or the second-placed team if the Azerbaijan Cup winners finish first). If the Azerbaijan Cup winners finish in the top three, the second Conference League spot will be passed to the fourth-placed team.

## Fixtures and results

Clubs play each other four times for a total of 36 matches each.
| Home \ Away | ARA | KAP | NEF | QAR | SAB | SEB | SHA | SUM | TUR | ZIR | ARA | KAP | NEF | QAR | SAB | SEB | SHA | SUM | TUR | ZIR |
| Araz-Naxçıvan | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 8 MAR | 3 MAY | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5 APR | 19 APR | 24 MAY |
| Kapaz | 0–2 | | 4–3 | 0–5 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 12 APR | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 29 MAR | 1–1 | 10 MAY | 5–2 | 26 APR |
| Neftçi | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 0–3 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 29 MAR | 3 MAY | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 17 MAY | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 12 APR |
| Qarabağ | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 10 MAY | 15 MAR | 19 APR | | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 3 MAY | 1–2 | 5 APR |
| Sabah | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 5 APR | 24 MAY | 26 APR | | 19 APR | 10 MAY | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Sabail | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–4 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 26 APR | 1–0 | 1–2 | 12 APR | 0–0 | | 0–2 | 24 MAY | 5 APR | 10 MAY |
| Shamakhi | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 17 MAY | 19 APR | 5 APR | 18 JAN | 1–0 | 3 MAY | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Sumgayit | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 2–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 26 APR | 0–2 | 29 MAR | 0–2 | 12 APR | | 17 MAY | 0–3 |
| Turan Tovuz | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 24 MAY | 10 MAY | 29 MAR | 12 APR | 1–1 | 26 APR | 1–2 | | 0–2 |
| Zira | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 17 MAY | 1–0 | 29 MAR | 19 APR | 3 MAY | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of match played 16 March 2025
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Leandro Andrade | Qarabağ | 11 |
| 2 | Jesse Sekidika | Sabah | 10 |
| 3 | Felipe Santos | Araz-Naxçıvan | 9 |
| 3 | Davit Volkovi | Zira | 9 |
| 3 | Joy-Lance Mickels | Sabah | 8 |
| 3 | Salifou Soumah | Zira | 8 |
| 4 | Pavol Šafranko | Sabah | 7 |
| 4 | Nariman Akhundzade | Qarabağ | 7 |
| 5 | Brahim Konaté | Shamakhi | 6 |
| 5 | Raphael Utzig | Zira | 6 |
| 5 | Filip Ozobić | Neftçi | 6 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
| Davit Volkovi | Zira | Sabail | 4–1 (H) | 4 August 2024 | |

### Clean sheets

    As of match played 4 March 2025
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Cristian Avram | Araz-Naxçıvan | 13 |
| 2 | Aydın Bayramov | Zira | 12 |
| 3 | Ivan Konovalov | Turan Tovuz | 10 |
| 4 | Mekhti Dzhenetov | Sumgayit | 7 |
| 4 | Ricardo Fernandes | Shamakhi | 7 |
| 6 | Mateusz Kochalski | Qarabağ | 6 |
| 7 | Rza Jafarov | Neftçi | 5 |
| 8 | Fabijan Buntić | Qarabağ | 4 |
| 8 | Yusif İmanov | Sabah | 4 |
| 8 | Shakhruddin Magomedaliyev | Qarabağ | 4 |
| 8 | Hüseynali Guliyev | Sabail | 4 |
| 8 | Rógerio | Kapaz | 4 |

## Records

In the 2024/25 season, Turan Tovuz became the 7th team in the 32-year history of the national championships to not concede a single goal in their first 5 matches. The club's match against Neftçi ended in a 0:0 draw, and they went on to defeat Sumgayit, Qarabağ, and Sabail by one unanswered goal each, and Kapaz by three unanswered goals. The last time this record was matched was in the 2016-17 season by Gabala. Turan Tovuz's goalkeeper, Ivan Konozalov, became the second foreign goalkeeper in the history of the national championships to keep a clean sheet in the first 5 matches, following Dmytro Bezotosnyi, who achieved this with Gabala in the 2016/17 season.
For the second time in 32 years, "Neftçi" failed to win any of their first 5 matches. They ended their matches against "Turan Tovuz" and "Shamakhi" in goalless draws, and drew 1:1 with "Sabail" and "Araz-Naxçıvan." The club first experienced this in the 2017/18 season, where they also failed to win in their first 5 matches. That winless streak lasted for 6 games and was only broken in the 7th match.
On September 20, during the 7th round match between Qarabağ and Neftçi, Neftçi player Robert Bauer scored an own goal, becoming the author of the season's first own goal. This was the 234th own goal in the history of the national championships and the 25th own goal scored by the club, setting an unfortunate record in the tournament's history. Additionally, with this goal, Qarabağ celebrated its 34th own goal scored by opponents, further extending its record.