AJAX's Europa Conference League hopes looked dead and buried last week as their play-off round first leg tie with Bodo/Glimt went into seven minutes of injury time.
The Norwegian dark horses were 2-0 up and surely set to take a huge advantage into the return leg this week in Scandinavia.
But suddenly the visitors conceded a penalty with Odin Luras Bjortuft sent off and now only did Ajax convert that, they also grabbed a late leveller though Steven Berghuis to leave the tie delicately balanced.
It's been well documented how much of a car crash of a season the Amsterdam giants have had by their standards – after winning their first league game of the season, they didn't win again in the Eredivisie until November.
In their Europa League group, they won just one out of six games and have their work cut out now. However, they have England star Jordan Henderson in their line-up now and have actually just lost once in the league since October.
Bodo/Glimt love bloodying the noses of higher-rated opponents as Celtic can testify to after beating them home and away as well as Jose Mourinho's Roma 6-1 at home a few years ago.
Despite selling a number of their players and being on a four-month winter break, they are very dangerous at home in particular under the stewardship of Kjetil Knutsen.
How the bookies view it
They aren't interested in Ajax's prestigious European record and make Bodo/Glimt 11/8 favourites with Betfred.
Ajax are 17/10 outsiders with William Hill and the draw is 16/5 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
As stated, Ajax fought back from two goals down to score two injury time goals in the Netherlands to steal a draw.
Players to watch
Danish playmaker Albert Gronbaek Erlykke averages a goal every three games and netted twice in the Amsterdam ArenA. He is 13/5 to score anytime with BetVictor.
Freescoring striker Brian Brobbey has scored 12 goals in his last 13 games for Ajax and is 21/10 to score anytime with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
This is a tough ask for Ajax with plenty of teams coming a cropper at Bodo and the hosts can add John van ‘t Schip's side to their list of big teams they've taken down.
Bodo frustrated Ajax well last week and looked in control until that late drama.
In the last three years, they have played 23 games in Europe at home and only lost three of them – to PSV Eindhoven, Club Brugge and Arsenal.
They have taken the scalps of Roma twice, Celtic, Besiktas, FC Zurich, Dinamo Zagreb and AZ Alkmaar. They are no respecter of reputations and can add Ajax to the list.
They have also scored at least three goals in five of their last six European home games. Back them to score at least two here too at 4/5 with William Hill.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between Bodo/Glimt and Ajax will be played on Feb 22, 2024 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Bodo/Glimt vs Ajax prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
