Scottish giants Rangers will travel to Amsterdam on Wednesday night to face Eredivisie champions Ajax in their opening Champions League group-stage match of the 2022-23 campaign, with kickoff at 7:45 pm.
Ajax has made an impressive start to the new campaign, winning each of their opening five Eredivisie matches despite losing Erik ten Hag and a host of key players over the summer.
New recruit Steven Bergwijn scored a brace to help the Dutch outfit secure a comfortable 4-0 home victory over Cambuur last weekend, with Devyne Rensch and Mohammed Kudus on the scoresheet.
Ajax is rarely tested on the domestic front. Still, Alfred Schreuder’s side will face sterner competition in Group A of the Champions League, with fixtures home and away against Rangers, Liverpool and Napoli to come within three months.
With their 2-0 win against Union SG and PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League qualifying rounds, Rangers have reached the group stage for the first time in 12 years.
While there is much excitement about competing in Europe’s elite club competition, morale within the Ibrox camp was dealt a blow with a 4-0 defeat at Celtic Park last weekend.
But Giovanni van Bronckhorst stated that they need to reflect on their “very disappointing” performance at Parkhead and put things right on the training pitch as there are four games in 11 days ahead.
Ajax vs Rangers Head to Head
Both sides have yet to face each other, which marks their first encounter. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Ajax 4-0 SC Cambuur
- FC Utrecht 0-2 Ajax
- Sparta Rotterdam 0-1 Ajax
- Ajax 6-1 FC Groningen
Away
- Celtic 4-0 Rangers
- Rangers 3-1 Queen of the South
- Rangers 4-0 Ross County
- PSV Eindhoven 0-1 Rangers
Ajax Team News
Ajax boss Schreuder has confirmed that left-back Owen Wijndal will miss Wednesday’s games with an ankle injury, while midfielder Mohamed Ihattaren remains sidelined due to fitness issues. Kenneth Taylor could be recalled to the first XI ahead of Davy Klaassen and Kudus, while Florian Grillitsch will also be pushing to feature in centre-midfield following his free transfer from Hoffenheim.
Rangers Team News
As for Rangers, Tom Lawrence missed the Old Firm derby with a knee injury, but manager Graeme Murty revealed that the attacker is set to miss at least a few weeks. Centre-back trio Ben Davies, John Souttar and Filip Helander also remain injured, as do attackers Kemar Roofe and Ianis Hagi.
Prediction and Odds
Ajax is regarded as the favourites for Wednesday’s match, although Rangers have a reputation for excelling in Europe and shouldn’t be overlooked.
- Ajax Win
- Goals Over 2.5
- Both Teams to Score
