Ajax-Liverpool is a match valid for the fifth day of the group stage of the Champions League and is played on Wednesday at 21:00: statistics, likely formations, predictions, live TV and streaming.
Hurricane Napoli hit Alfred Schreuder’s Ajax twice, jeopardising the Lancers’ plans to qualify for the round of 16. The Azzurri literally wreaked havoc on the Eredivisie’s second-best defence, bombarded with goals – a total of ten, the same number the Biancorossi have conceded in eleven league matches – leaving the reigning Dutch champions on three points and a step away from elimination. The direct elimination phase is a chimera for Ajax, who even beating Liverpool in Amsterdam would need a series of improbable combinations to reach the top two. Yes, because the standings, with two rounds to go in the group stage, say this: Napoli 12, Liverpool 9, Ajax 3 and Rangers 0.
It goes without saying that the Lancers are practically obliged to win and will have to do so with at least two goals to spare, in light of the first leg result (2-1 to the Reds). And then, as if that were not enough, in a week’s time, as well as beating Rangers, they have to hope that Napoli make a splash at Anfield. In short, Tadic and his teammates are a foot and a half out of the continent’s top competition and at best will have to be content with relegation to minor Europe.
In the Eredivisie, however, they immediately started to march again: in the last three days they have scored a total of 15 goals between Volendam, Excelsior and Waalwijk, consolidating their position at the top of the table. Liverpool, on the other hand, are still going from strength to strength: after the 7-1 defeat to Rangers that put them back on track in the cup – with a draw they are in the round of 16 – Jurgen Klopp’s men have beaten Manchester City and West Ham by the narrowest of margins, but last Saturday they fell sensationally on the pitch of the last in the standings, Nottingham Forest, throwing away a host of chances. A defeat that could cost Liverpool dearly in their title fight
Klopp and Schreuder
The Prediction
Ajax, like every year, can count on a good dose of quality from the midfield upwards but in Europe they have conceded a lot of goals – the average is three per game – and the chances of coming out unscathed from the challenge with a Liverpool side seem derisory, despite the Reds being the distant relatives of last year’s. For those who don’t feel up to trusting Klopp’s team, they can bet on the number of goals, which won’t be few at all.
Ajax-Liverpool’s likely line-up
- AJAX (4-3-3): Pasveer; Sánchez, Timber, Bassey, Blind; Berghuis, Álvarez, Klaassen; Tadić, Brobbey, Bergwijn.
- LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson; Elliott, Firmino, Fabio Carvalho; Salah.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
