Ajax Vs. Galatasaray: De Joden Must Rise Or Get Worse

JAKARTA - Stuck at the bottom of the Champions League standings, Ajax will host Galatasaray at the Johan Cruyff Arena in hopes of a fourth straight defeat on the fourth matchday, Wednesday 5 November.

Johnny Heitinga's team became the team with the most conceded (11 goals) after three games and also scored at least (one goal). This statistic shows how serious the problems Ajax faced on the European stage, while the opponent came with high confidence after overthrowing Liverpool and Bodo/Glimt in a row.

Ajax's inconsistent performance continued last weekend after only drawing 1-1 against Heerenveen in Amsterdam. These results made De Joden only win one of the last six matches in all competitions.

Although many thought that there would be many goals in the Eredivisie match, the draw was predictable to mark how far De Godenzonen's performance was after appearing promising at the beginning of the Heatinga era.

In the domestic league, Ajax has only won twice in the last six matches. Meanwhile in the Champions League, their performance was much worse swallowing three consecutive defeats, including a 4-0 loss to Marseille and 5-1 to Chelsea, having previously lost 2-0 to last season's finalists, Inter Milan.

The results put the Dutch giants in the lowest position of 36 teams participating in the Champions League phase league, a precarious situation ahead of the match against Galatasaray the team that has been unbeaten in the last eight matches in all competitions.

Galatasaray's slick streak began after an embarrassing 5-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt on the first matchday. However, their revival was extraordinary: overthrowing Liverpool and Bodo/Glimt convincingly.

Now Okan Badan's side are eyeing a third straight win in the Champions League, and will rely heavily on striker Victor Osimhen, who has scored three goals in the competition.

Osimhen's two goals in a 3-1 win over Bodo extended his usual record: he has scored in seven consecutive European games with a total of nine goals in that period.

Despite failing to score a goal when Galatasaray was held 0-0 by Trabzonspor last weekend, the Nigerian striker remains the main focus on penetrating the Ajax defense.

Victory in Amsterdam will keep Galatasaray away from the team with six points and a chance to break into the top eight of the league phase. However, defeats could see them drop from their 14th position, although the draw is still enough to keep them from falling below 17th.

Ajax

Midfielder Kenneth Taylor had to miss out on suspension after receiving a red card in the 17th minute against Chelsea.

Several other players were also not available due to injuries, such as Steven Berghuis ( kiosk injury), Kasper Dolberg (belly injury) and Branco van den Boomen (back injury).

Meanwhile, Mika Godts is in the positive spotlight. Despite not scoring in Europe, the young Belgian has impressed in the domestic league with three goals and one assist in the last two matches against FC Twenty and Heerenveen.

Galatasaray The main striker Victor Osimhen will return to being a mainstay despite failing to score last weekend's goal. On the other hand, Yunus Akgun, who scored against Frankfurt and Bodo, could also be a differentiator on the front lines.

Davinson Sanchez is likely to return to the squad after being suspended in the domestic league, while Ilkay Gundogan is doubtful of appearing with a calf injury.

Galatasaray may be slightly outperformed given Ajax have lost their last six European games.

However, Ajax has a good record against a Turkish team, especially in Amsterdam, where they have never lost with seven wins and one draw.

Although difficult to hope for victory, Heatinga's troops still have a chance to get a valuable point at the Johan Cruyff Arena on Wednesday night.

Ajax (4-2-3-1):Pasveer; Rosa, Itakura, Sutalo, Bawas; Fitz-Jim, McConnell; Moro, Gloukh, Godts; Weghorst

Galatasaray (4-2-3-1):Cakir; Sallai, Sanchez, Barbakci, Jakobs; Sane, Torreira, Lemina, Yilmaz; Akgun; Osimhen

Ajax 1-1 Galatasaray