Ajax head to London on Tuesday to face Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. Kick off is at 8pm.

Ajax have had a sensational run in the Champions League so far this season and after beating both Real Madrid and Juventus, they are now just two games away from a place in the final.

Standing between them and a possible showdown with Liverpool or Barcelona for the title is Tottenham Hotspur and a number of familiar faces.

Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Davinson Sanchez and Christian Eriksen all became stars at Ajax but they are now trying to prevent the Amsterdam side from reaching their first Champions League final since 1996.

Erik ten Hag’s side have had a week to prepare for the clash after the KNVB decided to postpone their clash with De Graafschap at the weekend. Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino said last week that he thought Ajax’s extra rest was “Unfair.”

Speaking at his press conference, Ten Hag countered, “We get 10 million for playing in the Eredivisie and they get many more millions for being in the Premier League. Is that not unfair on us?

“There are always differing circumstances. Everybody has different circumstances. You just have to deal with them. That’s what we do.”

Tottenham played on Saturday lunchtime but lost 1-0 to West Ham United. Their first defeat in their new stadium.

Team News

Ajax have no fresh injury worries but there is some doubts over Noussair Mazraoui, who is in the squad but just back from an ankle injury.

Ten Hag will line-up in his usual formation with Dusan Tadic leading the line. Joel Veltman will start at right-back.

Probable Ajax line-up: Onana, Veltman, Tagliafico, De Ligt, Blind, De Jong, Schone, Van de Beek, Neres, Ziyech, Tadic

Tottenham have a multitude of issues going into the game with Harry Kane, Moussa Sissoko, Serge Aurier, Erik Lamela and Harry Winks all out injured while Son Heung-min is suspended. There will be no Vincent Janssen because he was not registered in their Champions League squad.

Possible Tottenham line-up: Lloris, Trippier, Rose, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Wanyama, Dier, Alli, Eriksen, Lucas, Llorente

Odds

Tottenham 8/5 Draw 12/5 Ajax 19/10

Previous Meetings

The only previous meetings between the two clubs came during the 1981 UEFA European Cup winners Cup. Tottenham won both legs, 3-1 in Amsterdam and 3-0 at home.

Key Match-ups

De Ligt v Llorente

Without Son, Tottenham could look to play more direct and look to bombard Ajax’s box with crosses looking for Llorente.

Ajax’s defence didn’t prevent Ronaldo from scoring two heads in the quarter-finals and they will need to deal with crosses better against Tottenham.

De Ligt needs to man-mark Llorente out of the game and prevent him from getting a jump on Daley Blind.

Eriksen v De Jong

Eriksen was the darling of the fans when he was at Ajax but now he will come face to face with the new superstar in Amsterdam.

Eriksen will look to find the spaces in behind the Ajax defence but he will have de Jong hunting him down throughout the match.

De Jong will also need to get on the ball and get Ajax moving forward on the counter at every opportunity.

Video Preview and Predictions




admin (14220 Posts)

Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter