Ajax welcome Eintracht Frankfurt to the Johan Cruyff Arena for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie. Given their current form and quality at home, the Dutch side appear well-positioned to edge this encounter.
The hosts enter this clash in strong form, winning seven of their last eight matches across all competitions, picking up a 1-0 victory at Almere last weekend. Also among the results in that run is a 3-2 aggregate victory over Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League playoff, winning 2-0 in Belgium before losing 2-1 at home in extra-time in the second leg.
Their home record is also impressive, winning seven of the last eight matches at the Johan Cruyff Arena. While the goals have flowed freely, Francesco Farioli’s men have struggled defensively, failing to keep a clean sheet in five of their last six Europa League matches.
Eintracht Frankfurt come into this fixture struggling for form, having suffered consecutive heavy league defeats, losing 4-1 to Bayer Leverkusen and 4-0 to Bayern Munich. It is a similar situation in the Europa League, with Dino Toppmoller’s men losing two of their last three matches, falling 2-0 at Roma last time out.
The defeat to Roma highlights a poor record on the road for Frankfurt, who are winless in seven of their last eight away matches in all competitions. The good news for the Germans is that the goals continue to flow, having scored in eight of their last 10 matches in all competitions.
How the bookies view it: Evenly matched rivals
Both teams are evenly matched among the bookies, BoyleSports offering 7/5 for an Ajax win while a victory for Eintracht Frankfurt is valued at the same odds. A draw is set at odds of 5/2 by Boylesports.
Head to head: No previous meeting
This will be the first meeting between Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Players to watch: Dependable Brobbey
Brian Brobbey is always lively for Ajax and has scored in two of the last three matches in all competitions. The forward could be worth keeping an eye on and is priced at 2/1 by BoyleSports to score anytime.
Hugo Ekitike has seven goals in the last 10 matches in all competitions and will be the one to watch on Thursday. The striker is priced at odds of 13/8 by BoyleSports to get on the score sheet.
Probable line-ups
Ajax will be without Wout Weghorst, Christian Rasmussen, Amourricho van Axel Dongen and Owen Wijndal. Davvy Klaassen is suspended for this fixture but Brian Brobbey and Mika Godts are expected to start in attack.
Robin Koch, Timothy Chandler, Krisztián Lisztes and Igor Matanović are all sidelined for Frankfurt. However, Hugo Ekitike, Mario Gotze and Ansgar Knauff are all expected to retain their places in the line-up.
Ajax: Pasveer, Hato, Rugani, Baas, Gaaei, Fitz-Jim, Mokoi, Taylor, Berghuis, Brobbey, Godts
Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp, Kristensen, Brown, Theate, Collins, Skhiri, Larsson, Brown, Götze, Knauff, Ekitike
Anything else catch the eye?
Five of the last six Europa League home games for Ajax have produced over 2.5 goals in regulation time and a repeat is priced at 6/10 with BoyleSports, who are also offering odds of 6/4 for over 3.5 goals. Both teams have quality in attack and could be backed to score at 4/9.
Ajax have scored in both halves in three of the last five home matches and a similar outcome is valued at 9/4 by Boylesports.
This UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt will be played on and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Ajax vs Eintracht Frankfurt prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
