Ajax – Liverpool

Ajax faces Liverpool at the Johan Cruijff Arena in a match from Group D of the Champions League. What do we expect from this fixture? Let’s discuss in the next few paragraphs.

After winning the Eredivisie title once again Ajax return to the Champions League. The Dutch giants reached the 1/2-finals of the competition in 2019, but soon after this they were unable to reach the knockout phase again. That’s their goal now – continue to the 1/8-finals of the competition. It won’t be easy though because Italian side Atalanta are another major contender to progress.

From the beginning of the season Ajax are second in the Eredivisie standings with 12 points won from five matches played. They have a record of four wins and one loss. They are still managed by Erik ten Hag who’s the same coach who took them to the Champions League 1/2-finals in 2019. In their last game in the Eredivisie Ajax hosted Heerenveen and secured an exciting 5-1 win at home.

Liverpool were rocked by terrible news at the end of the last week. One of the club’s best players Virgil van Dijk will miss the remainder of the season with a serious injury in the knee. Van Dijk got injured in the Merseyside derby against Everton in the Premier League. He will be out of action for more than half an year. It’s a terrible loss for the Reds.

Liverpool kept their core from the previous season and even added some new players to their squad. Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota are the new faces in Jurgen Klopp’s team. Especially Thiago should be a really influental player in the team.

That’s the preview for the Champions League game between Ajax and Liverpool in Amsterdam. How the Reds will do without the great Virgil van Dijk? This is going to be their first test without the influental defender.