Ajax have a comfortable three-goal lead over Ludogorets Razgrad heading into the second leg of their Europa League play-off. We take a look at where the betting value might lie in this fixture.
Team news
Ajax are going to experience life without attacker Mohammed Kudus for the first time after he completed his move to West Ham United last week. The Ghanaian scored a hat-trick in the first leg in what was an outstanding individual performance. It appears as though his contributions may be enough to get Ajax through to the group stage but this will be a test for the Dutch club to see who will step up in his absence.
Ajax and over 3.5 goals at 5/4
After winning the first leg comfortably 4-1 on away soil, the second leg at the Johan Cruijff Arena should be routine for Ajax. Although they already have one foot in the group stage draw, Ajax will want to showcase that they still have star-studded quality in their ranks despite losing Kudus. Forward Brian Bobbey was also on the scoresheet last time out and the Dutchman might thrive off having more of the goalscoring burden on his shoulders.
By getting on the scoresheet last week, Ludogorets showed that they are able to punish Ajax’s mistakes, and they did create some dangerous openings which could see them find the back of the net again in the second leg.
Ajax and both teams to score (Yes) at 6/4
While Ajax may feel the job is done after an impressive display away from home, they will still want to give a good account of themselves in front of their home crowd. Bobbey is up and running for the season and he’ll want to continue his goalscoring form and there is also the likes of Steven Bergwijn and Steven Berghuis who are no strangers to getting on the scoresheet.
While we expect Ajax to win the second leg and get through to the group stage in style, Ludogorets gave them a lot to think about last week and were able to pull a goal back from the penalty spot, taken by Olivier Verdon. They will have taken confidence from that and know that they have to come out with everything they’ve got in Amsterdam to have any hope of making it into the group stage draw.
