Rangers’ final Champions League match of the season will effectively be a dead rubber against Ajax. Only a five-goal victory would see the Glasgow club progress into the Europa League, but after five defeats from five, simply winning a point that would prevent them from having the worst record in the history of the competition is the goal.
Ajax, meanwhile, don’t have anything more riding on this match. After overcoming the Gers in their first game in spectacular style, they have shown little of the form that has so often dragged them to the latter stages of the competition in recent years.
Rangers v Ajax Bet Builder Tips
Ajax to Win
Ajax might only have pride on the line, but they should still have enough quality in their ranks to go to Ibrox and emerge with three points. The Amsterdam club persuaded the Dutch league to postpone their weekend fixture in order to give them more preparation time for this match – obviously a decision made well before it was evident they were already out.
The visitors, though, have got little need to rotate their team prior to this game. They have four matches left before the World Cup, including this encounter, and it may well be that head coach Alfred Schreuder wants to keep his players sharp before the weekend’s match with PSV, which is not until Sunday. Five days recovery should be ample.
Rangers, meanwhile, have been out of their depth in the Champions League this season, which has resulted in a string of heavy losses. In all, they have scored just one goal and conceded 19. The gap in quality has been obvious.
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Prediction: Ajax to Win
Over 2.5 Goals
Both of these clubs have been involved in high-scoring matches throughout this competition, albeit not necessarily in the manner they would have liked.
Ajax are a team stronger offensively than they are at the back. Even in being eliminated with one matchday to spare, they have scored eight goals in the competition, including four against the Gers on the opening night. Domestically, meanwhile, they have netted at the rate of more than three per game and conceded at close to one.
Rangers, meanwhile, have defensively not been up to the job in Europe. Averaging nearly four goals against per game, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side will feel like they have something to prove offensively in this match. With the pressure off, there may well be goals at both ends of the field.
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Prediction: Over 2.5 Goals
Rangers to Receive the Most Cards
This is liable to be a charged affair for the Ibrox crowd, who will want to see a degree of commitment from their players as they fight to avoid being the worst Champions League team in history. Especially if Rangers are struggling to gain a foothold in possession and losing, expect to see a few loose challenges.
Van Bronckhorst’s side have managed to remain fairly disciplined throughout the tournament and are not picking up huge numbers of cautions – they have twice had more bookings than their opponents and twice had an identical number – but a degree of frustration can be expected to creep into their play at some stage.
Alfredo Morelos is the only player under threat of missing the first game in next season’s European campaign, giving the rest of the squad a ‘free’ yellow card.
Ajax, meanwhile, have their likely Europa League campaign to consider. Key players Edson Alvarez and Jurrien Timber are one booking away from a ban, while six more are taken to the threshold with a caution. Expect the guests to hold back a little more in this game.
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Prediction: Rangers to Receive the Most Cards
Under 4.5 Rangers Corners
Rangers are likely to struggle to get on the front foot in this match, so backing under 4.5 corners looks good value. In the first match between these clubs, they had only 24% of the ball and struggled to get their full-backs into crossing positions. Given the strength of the Dutch side’s possession-based philosophy, a similar scenario should be expected at Ibrox.
Van Bronckhorst’s side are averaging only three corner kicks per game in the Champions League this season and will struggle to switch that momentum against the Eredivisie title holders, who are set to be dominant in terms of possession and territory.
Indeed, Ajax are a team that do not typically concede many corners. Their statistics in the competition this year show that only once in their previous five games have they conceded more than four corners. That was their 2-1 defeat against Liverpool, when they conceded 10, but otherwise they have conceded only 12 in their other four fixtures.
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Prediction: Under 4.5 Rangers Corners
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How to watch Rangers v Ajax in the Champions League?
📅 When is Rangers v Ajax? / Tuesday, 1st November 2022, 8:00PM
🏟 Where is Rangers v Ajax? / Ibrox Stadium (Glasgow)
📺 What TV channel is Rangers v Ajax on? / BT Sport 4
🟨 …And who is the referee for Rangers v Ajax? / G. Nyberg 🇸🇪
