Ajax kicks off their Champions League campaign with a clash against Rangers in Amsterdam. The kick-off is at 17.45.

Ajax has had a strong start to the season with Alfred Schreuder overseeing six straight league wins. However, the first big test arrives on Wednesday when the Champions League gets underway against Scottish side Rangers.

Coached by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Rangers came through the Champions League qualifiers and they knocked PSV Eindhoven out in the playoff stage after a 1-0 win in Eindhoven.

Rangers, who reached the Europa League final last season, go into the game on the back of a poor 3-0 defeat against big rivals Celtic, while Ajax eased to a 4-0 victory against Cambuur which puts them top of the Eredivisie.

In the group’s other clash, Napoli host Liverpool

Team News

Owen Wijndal is out of the clash through injury, while Mohammed Ihattaren has not been registered for the Champions League.

New signings Florian Grillitsch and Lucas Ocampos will be hoping to feature, while Kenneth Taylor should return to the starting line-up.

Possible Ajax line-up: Pasveer, Rensch, Blind, Bassey, Timber, Taylor, Alvarez, Berghuis, Tadic, Bergwijn, Brobbey

Rangers are without injured centre-back trio Ben Davies, John Souttar, and Filip Helander, while Tom Lawrence, Kemar Roofe and Ianis Hagi.

Possible Rangers line-up: McLaughlin; Tavernier, Goldson, Sands, Barisic; Jack, Lundstram, Kamara; Tillman, Colak, Kent

Odds

Ajax 11/25 Draw 15/4 Rangers 11/2

Key Players

Steven Bergwijn

The attacker swapped Tottenham for Ajax in the summer and it has proved to be a great move for the forward, who has already scored six times in five Eredivisie games. He goes into the clash with Rangers on the back of a double in the win over Cambuur and he will be confident of adding more against the Rangers defence.

Antonio Colak

The attacker, who netted the winner against PSV Eindhoven, has had a bright start to the campaign with seven goals in 10 games. He will get the nod over Alfredo Morelos up front and Rangers will be looking to him for goals.

Ajax must start with a victory

If Ajax are to get through to the next round then it is vital to begin with a win and they will be confident of securing that on Wednesday.

Rangers are a threat and they proved against PSV Eindhoven that they can rise to the occasion in Europe. However, Ajax look confident, especially up front, and they will be confident of scoring goals against a Rangers defence missing some key players.

With tough games to come against Liverpool and Napoli, Ajax must record a win in the Johan Cruijff ArenA.




admin (14220 Posts)

Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter