Champions League: Spurs and Ajax Aim for Euro Glory

Tottenham Hotspur vs Ajax

Champions League football returns to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday night when Spurs and Ajax begin their battle for a place in the final.

With Liverpool and Barcelona fighting it out in the other semi-final, Champions League Spurs vs Ajax gives one of the less fancied sides a golden opportunity to make the showcase climax at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

Both teams have made it to the last four the hard way, Spurs knocking out Manchester City in a dramatic tie, while Ajax saw off Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo and all with a stunning win in Turin.

Talking Points

No Kane, no Son for Spurs

Spurs will be without their two most dangerous front men for this clash. Harry Kane is still out injured while Heung-Min Son will miss out, having received a yellow card in the scintillating quarter-final second leg.

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These two strikers are a huge miss, top scoring in the Premier League for the Whites with 19 and 12 goals, as well as in the Champions League in which Kane has five goals and Son four. So Lucas Moura is likely to take the key role up front and could be joined by the much maligned Fernando Llorente. That may not look like the most frightening pair but Moura is starting to show his early season form where his scintillating pace caused serious problems for the best Premier League defences.

Llorente was the unlikely hero when Spurs stunned Manchester City with three away goals to reach this semi-final. But that 4-3 second leg defeat was one of three in four games for Pochettino’s men. Having won the first four matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, without conceding a goal, there was an air of invincibility in their new home for the Whites. But West Ham put an end to that on Saturday with a 0-1 win to leave Spurs top four fate still undecided. Fifth placed Arsenal is four points behind their North London rivals with a game in hand.

Pochettino has problems in midfield too, with Moussa Sissoko set to miss out with a groin injury and Harry Winks is also doubtful.

Christian Eriksen has so often been the key player for Spurs, and he was in the midweek win over Brighton with a late winner. The Dane is the hosts’ best chance of a first leg lead to take to Holland.

Ajax are favourites to reach Madrid

People have started to wake up and take notice of this Ajax team and they start this tie as marginal favourites to progress to the final at odds of 1.90, while Spurs is at 2.00.

With Son and Kane missing ten Hag will tell his players they have a real chance to steal a march in this game, and they have made it to this stage with two highly impressive second-leg away wins. Former Southampton striker Dusan Tadic is a real livewire and put in a brilliant performance to inspire Ajax to a 1-4 win against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Tadic made the first two goals and scored the third with a beautiful finish as the Dutch pulled off the shock of the Round of 16.

Ajax beat Juventus 3-2 on aggregate in the Champions League quarter-final — Ajax’s Dusan Tadic, David Neres and Matthijs de Ligt celebrate after the match vs Juventus

Tadic has six goals and four assists in the competition and the impressive Nicolas Tagliafico has three goals. And if Spurs’ midfield problems are anything to go by, Matthis de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong could find the space to step up and launch attacks.

This is a side playing with supreme confidence and so it was less of a surprise when ten Hag’s vibrant young team saw off Juventus in Turin, and coming into this match in fine domestic form, the Dutch have some useful momentum.

History

While Spurs best performance in Europe was a UEFA Cup win back in 1984 Ajax is Champions League royalty and is aiming to reach a seventh Champions League/European Cup final, having won the tournament four times, three in the early seventies when they introduced total football to the world. Their last triumph came in 1995 and they reached the final again a year later.

With no previous Spurs vs Ajax results to work on; we’ll take a look at recent form to guide our SBOBET tips.

While Spurs is having a minor stutter, the league win over Brighton sandwiched by

defeats to Manchester City and West Ham, Ajax hasn’t lost in eight and has a winning streak of four away from home.

Betting Tip

	Tottenham Hotspur vs Ajax	Over 2.50 goals @1.85
	May 01, 03:00(GMT+8)

All three results are in play according to the latest Spurs vs Ajax betting odds with a home win at 2.38, an away win at 2.97 and the draw available at 3.20.

While Ajax arrives in better form, Spurs is still a dangerous side, even without their star strikers and I can see an entertaining clash with goals at both ends. A 2-2 draw is available at odds of 12.00 and that could be good value too.