Ajax will play their second group game of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League season this Tuesday when they welcome Turkish side Besiktas to the Johan Cruijff Arena.
Venue: Johan Cruijff ruijiff Arena (Amsterdam)
Key Statistics
Ajax have kept four clean sheets from their last five games in all competitions
They have scored three or more goals in six of their last eight competitive games.
Besiktas have not kept a clean sheet in their last four games
The Turkish side have lost just one of their last nine competitive games away from home.
Head to head
This is the first time both sides are meeting in the UEFA Champions League.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Ajax: W-W-W-W-W-W (Goals for 29, Goals against 1)
Besiktas: L-D-W-L-W-W (Goals for 15, Goals against 9)
Ajax
After brushing aside Sporting Lisbon in their first Champions League game of the campaign, Ajax will look to continue their impressive start to the season in this game.
The home team are top of Group C on goal difference after beating Sporting 5-1 in their first group game.
The result showed that the Eredivisie side mean business this year, and will also make sure the rest of Europe take note.
The last time they were playing this well was in the 2018/19 Champions League season when they got to the semi-final, beating heavyweights like Real Madrid and Juventus on their way.
Erik ten Hag’s side are scoring goals for fun this term and have scored 24 goals in their last five games. They will fancy their chances of adding more goals here and also extend their winning run to seven games in all competitions.
Possible Ajax starting line-ups
Maarten Stekelenburg, Noussair Mazraoui, Jurrien Timber, Lisandro Martinez, Daley Blind, Edson Alvarez, Ryan Gravenberch, Steven Berghuis, Davy Klaassen, Dusan Tadic, Sebastien Haller
Unavailable
Onana (suspended), Klaiber (knee), Stekelenburg (groin)
Besiktas
Besiktas marked their return to the Champions League with a 2-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund in their first game.
The Turkish side are in a difficult group but will feel they have the quality to at least finish third.
However, they travel to the Netherlands with one win in their last four games (D1, L2) and are struggling with injuries to many of their key players.
Sergen Yalcin will have to check the availability of Michy Batshuayi, Miralem Pjanic, Alex Teixeira, and Domagoj Vida. Also, Topal Mehmet, Rachid Ghezzal, Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, Necip Uysal, and Welinton are injury doubts for this game.
Possible Besiktas starting line-ups
Ersin Destanoglu; Fabrice N’Sakala, Welinton, Necip Uysal, Valentin Rosier; Souza; Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, Atiba Hutchinson, Miralem Pjanic, Rachid Ghezzal; Michy Batshuayi.
Unavailable
Vida (heel), Montero (illness), Welinton (muscle), Necip Uysal (knee), Hutchinson (muscle), Mehmet Topal (muscle), Pjanić (muscle), Alex Teixeira (muscle), Nkoudou (ankle), Ghezzal (muscle), Larin (muscle)
Probability
Ajax win : Draw : Besiktas win :: 83%: 11%: 7%
Prediction
Besiktas are dealing with a lot of injury problems at the moment and will really struggle against this Ajax team, who are scoring goals for fun.
