Ajax vs Tottenham preview

Tottenham will take a 1-0 deficit into Amsterdam on Wednesday, to face an imposing Ajax in the second-leg of this Champions League semi-final draw. Wednesday’s hosts are the story of the tournament so far. Erik ten Hag has guided this youthful Ajax side to their first Champions League semi-final since 1997, qualifying from Group E behind Bayern Munich before knocking out the current holders Real Madrid in the Round of 16, and the Italian champions Juventus in the quarters.

Spurs’ road to the semi-finals has too been a credible one, progressing from Group B which hosted Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSV only by goal difference. But Mauricio Pochettino’s team would breeze past Borussia Dortmund in the Round of 16, and overcome Manchester City in the quarters who were the 9/2 favourites to lift the trophy at the start of the season – the second-leg of which going down in footballing-folklore.

But the first leg of Wednesday’s European tie gave us a lot to talk about too. On a night where Spurs were without the injured Harry Kane and suspended Heung-min Son, it was Ajax that would take the lead in the second leg. One of ten Hag’s shining youngsters, Donny van de Beek, got the crucial away goal for the Dutch outfit, who are on the brink of landing a record 26^th Eredivisie title this season. Tottenham were 5/2 favourites to take the victory that night and despite having a weakened squad, they were unable to make any imprint on the game, testing the Ajax keeper just once through the 90 minutes. Instead, it was 7/2 underdogs Ajax that would leave victorious, marking back-to-back 1-0 home defeats for Spurs.

Spurs will be boosted by the return of Son for the trip to Amsterdam. The South Korean has been their talisman in the absence of Kane, with 16 goals across all competitions this season, including four in the Champions League. Pochettino’s men will also have an extra days rest on their Dutch opponents who, rather controversially, were gifted a weeks rest before the first leg when the Dutch FA rearranged their league fixtures. Spurs face Bournemouth in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off and will be hoping to cement a third-place finish, which given their recent form of four defeats in seven Premier League games (eight defeats from their last 14 in all competitions), looks quite flattering on Poch.

With Bet365 offering the best odds of 10/1 for Spurs’ to life the Champions League trophy, a trophy-less season seems almost inevitable. Ajax on the other hand have a 7/2 chance of lifting the trophy which they won three times in a row from 1971 to 1973, and again in 1995. There’s also a very realistic chance of the treble this season for Ajax, who are ahead of PSV on goal difference with two games remaining in the Eredivisie, and competing in the KNVB Cup final on Sunday. Their prominence has been aided by their scary home form this season – fourteen wins and two draws from 16 Eredivise games at the Amsterdam Arena. But Poch will take hope from the fact that their only home defeat of the season has been in the Champions League, where Real Madrid won 2-1 in the first leg of the Round of 16 – the price for Spurs to replicate Madrid’s score line in Amsterdam on Wednesday is 11/1. If you are looking to back Spurs to qualify on Wednesday, take advantage of a new customer betting offer from bestbetsfree.com. It’s always worth tipping the balance in your favour.

Ajax’s next fixture is on Sunday evening against Willem II in the final of the KNVB Cup, and they’re as low as 1/4 to lift the domestic trophy for the 19^th time, another Dutch record. It means that ten Hag’s team will only have two days to prepare for the visit of Spurs. But the Dutchmen will be confident given their astounding home and league form. Since their 2-1 defeat to Madrid in February, Ajax have played 16 games in all competitions and dropped just five points in that time. Furthermore, Spurs’ defence, likely to be without Jan Vertonghen after the Belgian’s controversy-striking head injury in the reverse fixture, will have to withstand an Ajax side that has scored a staggering 111 goals in 32 Eredivisie games this season, 66 of them coming at the Amsterdam Arena – It’s a tally that no team in Europe’s top five league’s can come close to matching.