Ajax vs. Liverpool 10/21/20 UEFA Champions League Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Ajax is hosting Liverpool at Johan Cruijff Arena in round 1 in the UEFA Champions League.

Ajax has been in great form, and they have lost only 1 of their last 15 games. In this new season, Ajax has won 4 games while losing only 1 game, and they have scored 11 goals while conceding 3 goals. Ajax is in second place in the Eredivisie standings with 12 points, just 1 point behind PSV. In their last match against Heerenveen at home, Ajax has had 69% of ball possession, 5 shots on goal, 5 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and a solid 88% of the correct passes. Ajax has reached the Round of 32 in the Europa League last season, but they got knocked out by Getafe. The year before, Ajax reached the semifinals of the Champions League, and they were one of the best teams in the competitions that season. Tadic has been Ajax’s best player so far this season with 3 goals and 2 assists, while Santos added another 3 goals. Ajax is a good team, and they are a nice combination of youth and experience, but they are selling a lot of their good players every season. I guess the good news for Ajax is that they have one of the best youth academies in the world, and they are constantly producing good players. Ajax is one of the best teams in the Netherlands, and they have a good chance to end up in one of the first two spots in their group in the Champions League.

After winning the EPL title last season, Liverpool is yet to reach its form from the last season, and with the injury of Van Dijk in their last game, Liverpool is now even further from that form. Liverpool hasn’t won any of their last 3 games, and they have conceded massive 9 goals in their last 2 games. With 10 points, 13 scored goals, and 13 conceded goals in 5 games in the EPL, Liverpool is in 3rd place in the standings. Salah is Liverpool’s leading goalscorer with 6 goals, while Mane added 4 goals. In their last EPL match against Everton on the road, Liverpool has had 59% of ball possession, 8 shots on goal, 5 corner kicks, 4 big chances created, and a decent 83% of the correct passes. Liverpool was leading twice in this game, 0-1, and 1-2, but Everton kept coming back, and the final score of this match was 2-2. In the last season’s Champions League, Liverpool reached the Round of 16, but they got knocked out of the competition by Atletico Madrid in that game by a goal in the last minute of the overtime. Liverpool is one of the best teams in the EPL, but with Van Dijk injured, and still without Alisson on goal, I wonder if Liverpool can reach their old form this season and if they can defend the title.

Ajax and Liverpool haven’t played against each other in over 17 years, and that game ended in a 0-0 draw. Both Ajax and Liverpool are scoring a lot of goals, and this could be a fantastic match because I don’t see either of the teams focusing on the defense. I’m picking goals here.