Dutch giants Ajax welcome French club Marseille to the Johan Cruyff Arena on Thursday as Matchday 1 of the UEFA Europa League gets underway.
Ajax won the UEFA Cup back in 1991-92, but they have also clinched four European Cup/UEFA Champions League over the years.
😤 pic.twitter.com/kUiEE13Vwn— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) September 17, 2023
😤 pic.twitter.com/kUiEE13Vwn
Marseille also have a Champions League title to their name (1992-93), with three UEFA Cup/Europa League runners-up medals (1989-99, 2003-04, 2017-18).
Ajax claimed a 4-2 aggregate victory over Bulgarian outfit Ludogorets in the Europa League play-offs last month to punch their ticket to the competition proper.
However, the Dutch giants have struggled for consistency on home soil this season, recording one win, two draws and one loss in the Eredivisie.
Following a 4-1 victory over Heracles on the opening weekend, Ajax played out back-to-back draws with Excelsior (2-2) and Fortuna Sittard (0-0).
With a 3-1 defeat to Twente coming last weekend, Ajax will be eager to kick-start their campaign when Marseille visit the Johan Cruyff Arena.
As for Marseille, they fell short in the Champions League qualification process last month, suffering penalty shootout heartache against Greek side Panathinaikos.
Still, OM remain unbeaten in Ligue 1 this season, having picked up two wins and three draws from their opening five league games in 2023-24.
Marseille won two of their opening three League 1 matches before recording successive draws against Nantes (1-1) and Toulouse (0-0).
On Sunday, OM racked up 61% possession and 24 shots but failed to find a way through against Toulouse, so they will be determined to be more clinical on Thursday.
Head-to-head: Ajax and Marseille faced each other in the Europa League back in 2008-09, with the French side claiming a 4-3 aggregate win on that occasion.
That said, Ajax have lost just one of their four previous competitive encounters with Marseille, while the teams also played out a 2-2 friendly draw in 2016.
Team news: There are question marks over the fitness of Ajax trio Ahmetcan Kaplan (knee), Geronimo Rulli (shoulder) and Amourricho van Axel Dongen (knock).
On the flip side, Marseille’s injury list contains Pedro Ruiz and Ismaila Sarr, while Michael Murillo and Leonardo Balerdi are doubts for Thursday’s showdown.
Given that Ajax have made a below-par start to the season, Marseille will fancy their chances of piling more pressure on the Dutch giants.
Accordingly, Forebet predicts that Marseille will claim all three points in Amsterdam, scoring over 1.5 goals while keeping a clean sheet.