Villarreal and Ajax have endured dreadful UEFA Champions League campaigns and both teams look likely to crash out early as they prepare to face off in the penultimate round of fixtures.
The La Liga side sit second bottom of the 36-team group, having banked just one point from six games, and will need a remarkable series of results to sneak into the knockout stages, with 24th-placed FC Copenhagen already six points ahead of them.
Having reached the semi-finals of Europe's biggest tournament as recently as 2022 under Unai Emery, it has been a desperately disappointing campaign for the Yellow Submarine.
Ajax were also semi-finalists under Erik Ten Hag 2019 but they're not even the dominant force in the Netherlands any more, having gone three years without an Eredivise title.
They have a better chance than Villarreal of sneaking into the knockout stages, having banked three points so far, but even if they win their final two games it might not be enough.
The Dutch giants have started to pick up form, with five wins and a draw in their last six games, but winning at El Madrigal won't be easy.
Only Barcelona, Manchester City and FC Copenhagen have won at Villarreal's home this season so the Spanish side will fancy their chances.
How the bookies view it: Villarreal heavy favourites
This is Villarreal's last chance to give their fans something to cheer in Europe this season and they're 4/7 hot favourites with most firms. Ajax a little too big at 22/5 with BetMGM and the draw pays 7/2 at Bet365.
Head to head: Yellow Submarine's Dutch delight
These sides have never faced off in Europe before but Villarreal have an excellent record against Dutch opposition, losing just once in eight games.
Players to watch: Mikautadze the main man
Georges Mikautadze has scored just once in the Champions League this season but has been in decent domestic form and looks like Villarreal's best hope for a goal. He's 27/20 at BetMGM for anytime scorer and 2/1 at Virgin Bet for over 1.5 efforts on target.
Kasper Dolberg hasn't been a big hit so far since rejoining Ajax but the Dane has been getting a run of games up front of late. He netted against Qarabag in the last Champions League game and is 3/1 at BetMGM for anytime scorer.
Probable line-ups
It will be interesting to see if Pape Gueye and Ilias Akhomach feature for Villarreal, having just flown back from the Africa Cup of Nations. Pau Cabanes, Logan Costa, Willy Kambwala and Thiago Fernandez look set to miss out with injury again.
Experienced trio Takehiro Tomiyasu, Steven Berghuis and Wout Weghorst look likely to miss out for Ajax once more with injuries.
Villarreal: Luiz Junior, Foyth, Veig, Mourino, Pedraza, Parejo, Comesana, Buchanan, Moleiro, Mikautadze, Moreno.
Ajax: Jaros, Rosa, Gaaei, Itakura, Baas, Bouwman, Gloukh, Klaasen, Steur, Moro, Dolberg.
Anything else catch the eye?
Poor defending is one of the main reasons why these sides sit in the Champions League bottom three, with Villarreal conceding 13 times and Ajax shipping 18 goals.
They were involved in thrillers last time out in Europe, with Villarreal losing 3-2 to Copenhagen and Ajax winning 4-2 in Qarabag, so we should see goals here. Combining BTTS and over 2.5 goals only pays 4/5 at Coral but over 1.5 first-half goals is bigger at 23/20 with Ladbrokes.
Think both sides will find the net? Our BTTS Masterclass explains how to spot the fixtures where goals are a given.
It will be interesting to see how strong a team Villarreal field for this game as they may view Europe as a lost cause. If they do rest a few players then it could be worth backing Ajax to win either half at 13/8 with Bet365.
Ajax's last two Champions League games have hit double figures for corners and that makes over 9.5 flag kicks a decent option at 17/20 with BetMGM.
There's not a great deal in difference between these sides in terms of quality and the half-time draw could pay off at 28/17 with Unibet.
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