SM
Crystal Palace vs. Liverpool: 4 hrs 27 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
AA
Europa League | Group Stage
Oct 5, 2023 at 5.45pm UK
Olympiako Stadio Spyros Louis
A

AEK Athens
1 - 1
Ajax

Vida (74')
Vida (40'), Pineda (51'), Araujo (89'), Amrabat (90')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Bergwijn (30' pen.)
Brobbey (56'), Sutalo (61')

Preview: AEK Athens vs. Ajax - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: AEK Athens vs. Ajax - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Thursday's Europa League clash between AEK Athens and Ajax, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

AEK Athens and Ajax will be looking to bounce back from domestic defeats last time out when they do battle at the OPAP Arena in the Europa League group stage on Thursday night.

The hosts currently sit top of Group B after claiming all three points against Brighton & Hove Albion in gameweek one, while the visitors played out an entertaining six-goal draw with Marseille in their opening group fixture.


Match preview

Many considered AEK Athens as the underdogs heading into their Group B opener with Brighton, but the Greek champions held their own against the Premier League side and claimed an impressive 3-2 victory on the South coast.

Goals from Djibril Sidibe and Mijat Gacinovic were cancelled out by two Joao Pedro penalties, but AEK Athens, who had just 25% possession throughout the 90 minutes, snatched all three points when substitute Ezequiel Ponce netted an 84th-minute winner.

Matias Almeyda's side followed up their famous win over Brighton with successive 2-1 victories in the Greek Super League over Panathanikos and Atromitos, but their winning streak was brought to an end by OFI on Monday as they suffered a 2-0 defeat away from home.

AEK Athens return to the OPAP Arena on Thursday where they have experienced an underwhelming run of form so far this season, winning just one of their first five games in the Greek capital, while the less said about their Europa League home form the better as they are winless in their last 12 games on their own turf in the competition, losing seven and drawing five.

Meanwhile, the Yellow and Blacks head into Thursday's clash with Ajax having lost all four previous meetings with the Dutch giants, all in the Champions League by an aggregate score of 9-1.

Competing in the Europa League group stage for the first time since 2016-17 when they reached the final, Ajax were forced to settle for a point in a 3-3 home draw with Marseille in their Group B opener despite leading twice in the contest.

Indeed, the Dutch giants were 2-0 up and 3-2 ahead thanks to goals from Carlos Forbs, Steven Berghuis and Kenneth Taylor, but Marseille had the last laugh as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his second of the match 12 minutes from time to rescue a point for the French visitors.

Ajax have since experienced a chaotic period both on and off the pitch, with their Eredivisie showdown at home against champions Feyenoord abandoned with the visitors leading 3-0 in the second half due to crowd trouble from the home supporters; the game was eventually completed last Wednesday with Feyenoord adding a fourth goal to claim comfortable 4-0 away win.

Maurice Steijn's side then had last Saturday's fixture away against RKC Waalwijk cut short after the host's goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen was knocked unconscious following a serious collision six minutes from time with the score at 3-2 to the visitors.

Ajax will now endeavour to get back up to speed when they return to Europa League action on Thursday, and considering that they have lost just two of their last 19 Europa League group-stage games as well as boast an 11-game unbeaten run against Greek opposition in European competition, Steijn's men should be confident of success against AEK Athens.

AEK Athens Europa League form:


AEK Athens form (all competitions):


Ajax Europa League form:


Ajax form (all competitions):



Team News

AEK Athens will be without Domagoj Vida (rib), Levi Garcia (muscle) and Paolo Fernandes (Achilles) due to injury, while Jens Jonsson is doubtful after missing last weekend's defeat to OFI with an unspecified issue.

Tom van Weert, Alexander Callens and Zini all played against OFI, but the trio, along with Stavros Pilios, are ineligible to feature on Thursday after being left out of AEK Athens' Europa League squad.

Ponce and Sergio Araujo are set to replace Van Weert and the injured Garcia up front, while Damian Szymanski is the most likely candidate to slot into central defence alongside Gerasimos Mitoglou in the absence of Callens.

As for Ajax, Silvano Vos is suspended following his late dismissal in the draw with Marseille, while Geronimo Rulli (shoulder), Sivert Mannsverk (leg) and Ahmetcan Kaplan (knee) are ruled out through injury.

The absence of Vos could see either Branco van den Boomen or Benjamin Tahirovic recalled to the first XI to play in centre-midfield alongside Berghuis and Taylor.

A front three of Forbs, Brian Brobbey and Steven Bergwijn is set to remain intact, with summer signing Chuba Akpom – who scored just one goal in 12 games against AEK Athens across two spells in Greece with PAOK – set to begin again as a substitute.


AEK Athens possible starting lineup:
Stankovic; Sidibe, Szymanski, Mitoglou, Hajsafi; Galanopoulos; Amrabat, Gacinovic; Pineda; Araujo, Ponce

Ajax possible starting lineup:
Gorter; Rensch, Sutalo, Hato, Sosa; Taylor, Van den Boomen, Berghuis; Bergwijn, Brobbey, Forbs


We say: AEK Athens 2-2 Ajax

AEK Athens will fancy their chances of claiming another scalp when they face an out-of-sorts Ajax side who have failed to win each of their last five games in all competitions, excluding the abandoned clash with RKC Waalwijk last weekend.

Considering the threat that both teams will likely pose in attack, we can see an entertaining score draw played out in Greece.



For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


body check tags ::

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


amp_article__525581 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2024-06-05 13:27:01:
html db last update - 2024-06-05 13:27:01 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Read more!
Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
Brighton handed March, Ferguson injury boosts for AEK Athens clash
Real Madrid 'enter the race' for in-demand striker after eye-catching start
Man City transfer blow: Guimaraes 'prefers Newcastle stay' for two reasons
Done deal: Ex-Man United forward Martial joins new club
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1AEK AthensAEK Athens64201111014
2OlympiacosOlympiacos6411103713
3PAOKPAOK6411115613
4Aris ThessalonikiAris632186211
5PanetolikosPanetolikos62226518
6AtromitosAtromitos62229908
7PanathinaikosPanathinaikos62226608
8OFI CreteOFI Crete6222910-18
9Asteras TripolisAsteras613256-16
10Kallithea605145-15
11LamiaLamia6123510-55
12LevadiakosLevadiakos604248-44
13Panserraikos6114713-64
14Volos6114412-84
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Preview: Aston Villa vs. Man Utd - prediction, team news, lineups

1

PA

Preview: Chelsea vs. Nott'm Forest - prediction, team news, lineups

2

PC

Saturday's League One predictions including Charlton vs. Birmingham

NEW

3

SL

Saturday's Primeira Liga predictions including Sporting Lisbon vs. Casa Pia

NEW

4

SP

Preview: Frankfurt vs. Bayern - prediction, team news, lineups

5

PF

Team News: Real Madrid vs. Villarreal injury, suspension list, predicted XIs

6

TN

Preview: Galatasaray vs. Alanyaspor - prediction, team news, lineups

7

PG

Will Son, Udogie return? Tottenham injury, suspension list for Brighton clash

8

WS

Preview: Brighton vs. Spurs - prediction, team news, lineups

9

PB

Preview: Alaves vs. Barcelona - prediction, team news, lineups

10

PA


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .