Rangers must defeat Ajax by at least four goals on Tuesday evening if they are to remain in European competition this season, with kickoff at 11 pm.
Rangers’ first time competing in the Champions League group stage for more than a decade has not exactly gone to plan so far, with five defeats from five, leaving them as one of only two teams without a single point to their name this season’s competition.
However, Giovanni van Bronckhorst would have expected more from his team, having reached the Europa League final last season.
Scott Arfield’s opener in their 7-1 defeat at home to Liverpool remains the only goal Rangers have scored across their five defeats. Now all Rangers have left to play for is pride when they host Ajax on Tuesday.
Ajax, who lost all four of their matches against Napoli and Liverpool in this season’s Champions League, were the better side against Liverpool before Mohamed Salah broke the deadlock against the run of play shortly before half-time at the Amsterdam Arena last week.
The Dutch Eredivisie champions had several opportunities to score but failed to take them, leading to Alfred Schreuder’s disappointment.
The result means Ajax will have to settle for a spot in the Europa League; instead, provided Rangers do not thrash them.
Rangers vs. Ajax Head to Head
Both sides have one game against each other, with the visitors winning. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Rangers 4-1 Aberdeen
- Napoli 3-0 Rangers
- Rangers 1-1 Livingston
- Rangers 1-0 Dundee
Away
- Ajax 0-3 Liverpool
- Waalwijk 1-4 Ajax
- Ajax 7-1 Excelsior
- Napoli 4-2 Ajax
Rangers Team News
Rangers have many injuries: Kemar Roofe, Glen Kamara, Ryan Jack, Connor Goldson, John Souttar, Tom Lawrence, Filip Helander, and Nnamdi Ofoborh are doubtful for Tuesday’s tie. John Lundstram is suspended as well. This leaves van Bronckhorst incredibly short of options for what essentially is a dead rubber unless his team can pull off an unthinkable result.
Ajax Team News
On the other hand, Ajax has almost a clean bill of health ahead of their trip to Scotland. Only Ahmetcan Kaplan is unavailable because of a knee injury. At the same time, Edson Alvarez and Jurrien Timber could be rested, with both players only one caution away from incurring a European suspension.
Prediction and Odds
We expect Ajax to make changes in their starting eleven due to their strong position in Group A, which should allow Rangers to salvage some pride by securing a positive result.
- Draw
- Double Chance
- Goals Under 3.5
