It promises to be at least ninety more exciting minutes in both Amsterdam and Eindhoven this week. On Thursday Ajax and PSV will compete for a place in the eighth finals of the Europa League. Ajax is in good shape thanks to the 1-2 visiting Lille OSC, while PSV has to work hard in Eindhoven after the first match was lost 4-2. Together with TOTO we look ahead to the climax of these double encounters!
PSV had to allow no fewer than four hits in the away game with Olympiacos, but because of the two away goals, Roger Schmidt’s team can only have two hits in Eindhoven to continue, provided the team keeps the zero itself. Given the recent form of the team, there is certainly a chance that PSV will make at least two hits. The club scored at least two goals in nine of the last eleven home games in all competitions. In the unlikely event that Olympiacos score a goal, a third Eindhoven goal is certainly not a surprise: PSV succeeded in seven of the last eleven home games, including against Vitesse last Sunday. So goals seem guaranteed in this Europa League clash.
Will PSV again have at least two hits in a home game? View the odds for two goals from the Eindhoven team here!
Last Thursday it was Timothy Weah, son of football legend George Weah, who opened the score in the 72nd minute for Lille against Ajax. But Erik ten Hag’s team finally got what they were entitled to thanks to Dusan Tadic and Brian Brobbey: a victory in France. On Sunday Ajax played a flawless first half against Sparta Rotterdam with four Amsterdam hits, after which the visitors scored twice after the break thanks to Danzell Gravenberch. There seems to be a pattern when it comes to goals against: fifteen of the last eighteen goals against Ajax in all competitions fell after the interruption. So keeping the goal clean in the first act seems like a breeze; repeating this trick in the second half, whether or not because the match has already been played, turned out to be a bit more difficult.
Will Ajax have to concede a goal again after the break? Check here the odds for a goal against in the second half.
Lately there has been a lot to do about the substitution policy of PSV coach Roger Schmidt. Partly due to the later bringing of players who are normally certainty in the base, the team from the city of light often scores via substitutes this season. For example, PSV has scored fourteen times this Eredivisie season via a substitute, a shared club record for the Eindhoven team in one year (also fourteen in 2012/13). Remarkably enough, PSV did not score via a substitute this season in the main tournament of the Europa League. Schmidt therefore seems to take this tournament very seriously in terms of starting eleven and with the surprising formation against Vitesse in mind, PSV seems to start with the attacking stars Donyell Malen, Mario Götze and Eran Zahavi. And that bodes well: excluding own goals, this trio was responsible for PSV’s last ten hits in all competitions.
Will it be Malen, Zahavi or Götze who manages to score? Check the quotation here!
Because Sébastien Haller was not available, Dusan Tadic was in the lead in the first leg against Lille. He regained that confidence by making the important 1-1 in the 87th minute. Three days later against Sparta, Tadic did not appear on the scoreboard, but was extremely important for the team from Amsterdam with three assists. Last season, the Serb finished on 16 goals in 42 games in all competitions, this season Tadic is already 15 goals after 32 games. He is therefore only one goal away from his 2019/20 total. The wear and tear is far from over with the captain of Ajax.
Will Erik ten Hag again choose Dusan Tadic in the rush hour? Check here the odds for a goal of the captain.
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