Union Berlin host Ajax in their Europa League knockout playoff second leg with the clash still perfectly in the balance. Both teams have been plagued by too many draws lately and could be set for another closely fought encounter.
Union Berlin will be disappointed not to have claimed the win in the first meeting as they dominated the game. Urs Fischer’s men were positive for much of the encounter and drove forward at every opportunity but generally struggled to create clear cut opportunities.
The German side followed that up with another 0-0 draw as they were held at home by Schalke 04 in a Bundesliga fixture last Sunday. Both results mean Union Berlin are currently on a 14-match unbeaten run with their last defeat coming last November.
Union will be feeling confident heading into Thursday’s second leg as they have been beaten just once at home across all competitions this season. However, that defeat was a 1-0 loss to Union St Gilloise during the group stage of the Europa League.
Ajax were not at their best in the first leg and despite being at home, played second fiddle to Union Berlin throughout the encounter. They looked uncharacteristically out of sorts and failed to muster a single attempt on target.
The good news for Ajax is that they did enough to avoid defeat and will be looking for a much improved performance in Thursday’s return fixture. They are unbeaten in their last 12 matches across all competitions and claimed a 4-0 victory over Sparta Rotterdam in an Eredivisie fixture last Sunday with Dusan Tadic netting a brace.
Ajax will be confident of showing some improvement on Thursday as they have impressed on their travels this season. Johnny Heitinga’s men are unbeaten in their last nine away matches across all competitions, playing out three draws in that run.
How the bookies view it
Union Berlin have the upper hand among the bookies with a home win priced at 25/19 by SBK. A victory for Ajax is valued at 23/10 with Paddy Power while bet365 is offering odds of 11/5 for a draw.
Head to head
Union Berlin and Ajax have drawn their two previous meetings. Prior to last week’s stalemate, they played out a 2-2 scoreline in a friendly back in 2020.
Players to watch
Having failed to score in the first leg, Union Berlin will be keen to set things right on Thursday. Kevin Behrens has scored in two of his last three home matches and could be worth keeping an eye on at 5/2 with Unibet.
After a quiet outing in the first meeting, Dusan Tadic’s experience will be pivotal to Ajax’s quest for qualification. The forward has four goals in his last six appearances for the Eredivisie champions and is priced at 4/1 by bet365 to find the net on Thursday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Although there were no goals in the first meeting, both teams have plenty of quality in attack and could be backed to score at 10/11 with bet365. A closely fought opening is expected on Thursday, which means the second half could be tipped to produce the most goals at 6/5 with Paddy Power.
Union Berlin have battled to a halftime draw in their last two matches and Thursday’s clash could be set to follow a similar pattern at 21/20 with William Hill.
This UEFA Europa League match between Union Berlin and Ajax will be played on Feb 23, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Union Berlin vs Ajax prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
