The second night of Champions League action from the penultimate round of group stage games is heading our way on Wednesday evening. Group A is the focus here as Ajax host Liverpool in an 8pm BST kick-off from the Johan Cruyff Arena in what can only be described as a do-or-die encounter for the Dutch Eredivisie side with the Premier League club simply needing to avoid defeat to progress to the last 16.
The pressure levels are starting to crank up on the teams now and that’s going to make the value even tougher to find amongst the Champions League odds. Let’s take a look at the betting ahead of this clash.
Ajax Betting Trends
Ajax are on the brink of failing to reach the knockout phase of the Champions League for a third time in four seasons. The Sons of the Gods are in 3rd place but 6 points behind 2nd placed Liverpool with just 2 group games remaining. Head coach Alfred Schreuder has led his team to the top of the table in the top flight of Dutch football but he’s not been able to replicate Erik ten Hag’s success on the European front thus far.
It’s been just 1 win from their 4 group games so far but home form across all competitions has been positive with the team winning 5 of their previous 7 home games. Unfortunately, their last home game in the Champions League saw them suffer a humiliating 6-1 loss against group leaders Napoli. Even so, Ajax have scored 3 goals or more in 6 of their last 8 games played at home in all competitions. Striker Brian Brobbey is looking like the next top talent to come through the Ajax youth production line. The front man has scored 8 goals in 16 competitive games including bagging 4 goals in his last 2 appearances.
Liverpool Betting Trends
Liverpool might be shaky on the domestic front but the team is fairing slightly better in European competition. The Reds experienced a humbling result last Saturday lunch time when they lost 1-0 away to relegation favourites Nottingham Forest. That loss left the team down in 8th position in the Premier League at the end of that game week with the critics howling at the door. Jurgen Klopp has a chance to keep the doubters at bay for a little longer here though. If he can guide his team to a draw or win then the Merseysiders will be confirmed in the last 16 of the Champions League for a sixth consecutive season.
The statistics make for some dour reading though with Liverpool only winning 1 of their 7 away games played across all competitions so far. That win did come in a convincing 7-1 thrashing of Scottish Premiership club Rangers in their most recent game in this competition though. Scoring goals remains a threat that Klopp’s men still possess. The team have only failed to score in 1 of their previous 9 matches. The club have also won 3 on the bounce in this group and have already put Ajax to the sword once this season.
Ajax vs Liverpool Betting Tips
It’s fair to say that all the impetus lies with Ajax here. The reigning Dutch champions are the ones that need the victory here so we can fully expect them to come charging out of the blocks. That could play into Liverpool’s hands. If Klopp’s side can keep their discipline and hit the hosts on the counter then they can pick away at their defence.
My only worry is that Klopp’s team doesn’t have a different gear to the full blown intensity they adopt in each game. I think Klopp will enter this with the mindset that he wants to blow Ajax away with a high press. The reverse fixture showed that there is not a lot separating these two teams. Give Ajax a partisan crowd behind them and additional motivation then we could see a much tougher opponent for Liverpool here.
Ajax Double Chance @ 1.90 with Sporting Index
Anytime Scorer: Brian Brobbey @ 3.40 with William Hill
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