MY ACCOUNT
Liverpool head to Ajax on Wednesday night knowing if they avoid defeat, they will seal their qualification to the knockout stages.
The Reds have been below par so far this term but they have won three of their opening four European group games, to put them in a strong position to qualify from Group A.
They face a stern test though against an Ajax team that need a win to keep alive their slender hopes of qualifying for the Champions League last-16.
Team news
Ajax are sweating on the fitness of midfielder Kenneth Taylor, with the 20-year-old missing the weekend win over RKC Waalwijk due to a muscle strain.
Brian Brobbey scored twice in that 4-1 victory on Saturday and coach Alfred Schreuder has to decide whether to start the young Dutchman up front, or to select Mohammed Kudus — who scored at Anfield earlier in the tournament.
Liverpool are still without long-term injury absentees Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz, while Joel Matip is also expected to sit out the penultimate group game.
Darwin Nunez and Thiago Alcantara missed the weekend defeat to Nottingham Forest due to injury and illness, but both look likely to feature on Wednesday.
The stats
Liverpool’s away form will be of major concern for Jurgen Klopp, who has seen his side win just one of their seven games away from Anfield so far this season.
Their only victory on their travels was the 7-1 success at Rangers in their last European tie, which saw them come from behind to win at Ibrox.
Ajax started their European campaign with a 4-0 thumping of the Glasgow giants, but have followed that up with three straight defeats to leave them third in Group A.
A 6-1 hammering at home to Napoli will no doubt have impacted the confidence of a young squad although their home form aside from that, has been pretty good.
In seven matches in all competitions at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, Ajax have won five, drawn one and lost one — scoring 28 goals during that run of home fixtures.
It is the Premier League team that have the advantage in the recent head-to-head stats, winning all three of their previous meetings — including a 1-0 success in Amsterdam in the 2020-21 season.
Prediction
Clearly, there are problems for Klopp and his team to address and injuries to crucial players have not helped the cause this term.
Away from Anfield they have been inconsistent, making them a difficult team to predict, highlighted by following up back-to-back wins over Man City and West Ham with a defeat at bottom club Nottingham Forest.
They lost 4-1 at Napoli in their first Group A game and have kept just one clean sheet in all competitions on the road this season.
Klopp has often found a way to get a result in Europe though and a draw would be enough to see them through, with one game still left to play.
Mohamed Salah has scored in each of the last three Champions League ties, including the opener in a 2-1 win against Ajax at Anfield back in September.
The Egyptian always seems to deliver when Liverpool need him and with Salah also taking penalties, the Evens on offer with LiveScore Bet on him to score at anytime, looks the way to go.
