Ajax vs Tottenham Hotspur 09/05/19

9 May 2019

Ajax and Tottenham Hotspur go head-to-head at the Johan Cruyff Arena for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie with everything to play for following a narrow 1-0 Ajax’s win in London.

The hosts’ impressive run of form has seen them rack up a ten-game unbeaten run across all competitions (W9, D1) as they come into this encounter off the back of a stunning 4-0 win over Willem II in the KNVB Beker final. Furthermore, the Lancers have won six of their last seven competitive home outings (D1), netting over 3.5 match goals five times across those triumphs. A potential worry for Erik ten Hag could be the fact his players have struggled to keep a clean sheet in all five of their previous home games, allowing precisely two goals per match in the last two. Surprisingly, the Eredivisie heavyweights have scored more goals away from home this CL campaign (8 vs. 11), netting precisely one match goal in three of five CL home fixtures.

Meanwhile, the visitors are going through a rough period having lost five of their previous six competitive clashes (W1, L5), with four of those five failures ending with the same 1-0 scoreline against their favor. Things go from bad to worse for the Spurs judging on the fact that they’ve suffered nine defeats on their last ten road trips across all competitions (W1, L9), scoring one goal or less in nine of those games. In the same period, Mauricio Pochettino’s men have allowed over 1.5 match goals on seven occasions, while their only win has seen them beat Borussia Dortmund by a narrow 1-0 scoreline. It was Tottenham’s only CL away victory this term (W1, D2, L2), with four of their five CL road meetings featuring goals on both ends.