UEFA Champions League: Ajax vs. Rangers Preview, Odds, Prediction

Ajax squares off with the Rangers in the first round of the UEFA Champions League. The Dutch champions are in excellent form, winning several games in a row in the domestic championship and posting excellent results. But the Lancers’ domination in Eredivisie is nothing new, and they want to make notable results on the European stage. The Rangers are in the UCL following a very tough road in the qualifiers. All those challenges seemed to tire them, and the Gers looked slightly deflated in the recent few weeks. We saw them humiliated this weekend against Celtic in the Old Firm Derby.

Preview

Ajax (-205) has five wins in a row, all of them in the Dutch league. The Dutch champions are playing with 50% of their strength in most of the games, but even so, they still provide superb results. The Lancers scored at least two goals in four events, while on the other side, they didn’t concede in the past three.

When playing at home, they keep a high pace throughout all 90 minutes and don’t allow the rivals to have the slightest chance of imposing their own style.

Dusan Tadic is still the heart and soul of this unit. Even though Ajax lost several extremely valuable players this summer, the team from Amsterdam brought decent replacements but kept the Serb, who is an essential player in the organization.

As for the Rangers (+650), they are coming off a disastrous defeat in the Old Firm derby. The Gers received a 4-0 whooping, one of the worst in the last decade. They looked like a broken army, without any direction or guidance, and had little time to forget that experiences and regroup.

Rangers’ games are usually efficient, with three or more goals, and in the last eight, only one didn’t end like that. But the funny thing is that seven of the previous 10 were with only one team netting.

In five road games this year, the Rangers won just two, though one of them very important, against PSV on the road, which was the victory that put them in the UCL.

Latest News

Owen Wijndal was out on the weekend, but he might be ready for Wednesday.

The guests have numerous players with injury issues. Davies, Hagi, Helander, Lawrence, Ofoborh, Roofe, and Souttar all missed the previous contest, with the latter two possibly appearing on Wednesday.

Head to Head Games

The two sides didn’t meet since 1996, and the UCL group stage. Ajax was better in both events, 4-1 at home and 0-1 in Glasgow.

They met in the 1973 UEFA Cup finals when Ajax won the trophy winning in both matches, 1-3 on the road and 3-2 at home.

Prediction

The hosts are big favorites here and need to justify that with a confident win. We will bet that the Lancers triumph and cover a -1.5-goal margin. The odds on that are quite solid and are currently priced at +110, which is a pick worth trying. For those who want to be extra safe here, go with Ajax’s plain victory.

Pick: Ajax -1.5 +110