The third qualifying round of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League starts on Tuesday night and the teams can begin to sniff the lucrative group stages.
There are several matches to look forward to on Tuesday, with arguably the pick of games being the clash between Standard Liege and Ajax.
Standard Liege finished second in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League last season while Ajax were runners-up in the Dutch Eredivisie. Both teams will believe this tie gives them a chance to progress in the Champions League this season.
Standard Liege are the home team for this first leg and they have already played two domestic league games this season. They defeated Gent 3-2 at home in their first match and were held to a 0-0 draw at Waasland-Beveren on the weekend.
This will be the first match in the Champions League for Standard Liege this season having automatically qualified for the third qualifying round. Their record at home is not great and trends show they have won just one of their previous eight home Champions league fixtures.
However, they have proven tough to beat and Standard Liege have lost only two of those games and one of their last five. Interestingly, their last four home Champions League games have all been low scoring, with no more than 2 goals scored in any of them.
Ajax began their 2018/19 Champions League campaign in the second qualifying round. The Dutch giants were paired with Sturm Graz of Austria and won the home leg 2-0 before producing another good performance in the away leg to win that game 3-1.
The Eredivisie does not begin until the weekend so the Champions league second qualifying round games are the only competitive matches Ajax have been involved in this season.
Ajax have struggled in recent Champions League seasons and were eliminated from the competition by French club Nice in the third qualifying round last season. Trends show Ajax have won only four of their last seventeen Champions League matches and half of those wins came in the second qualifying round this season.
Ajax have won two of their last fifteen away matches in the Championship, with the wins coming at PAOK and Sturm Graz. In contrast to Standard Liege, Ajax have seen plenty of goals in their away Champions league games, with over 2.5 goals being scored in six of their last seven and both teams scoring in each of their last eight.
Looking ahead to the team news and Standard Liege are expected to be without midfielder Gojko Cimirot who is recovering from a thigh injury. The Belgian’s have every other player available.
Ajax on the other hand have a long list of potential casualties. Kasper Dolberg and Benjamin van Leer are the major doubts while Hassane Bande, Amin Younes and Joel Veltman are out of contention.
Standard Liege know they must try and keep a clean sheet in this game and build a lead for the second leg.
However, Ajax score plenty of goals away from home in the Champions league and could come away with a crucial victory.