Tottenham Hotspur vs Ajax 01/05/19

1 May 2019

Out-of-form Tottenham Hotspur go in search of their elusive first Champions League final as they welcome Ajax to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first leg of their semi-final tie.

Although they’ve managed to dump Manchester City out of the competition, the hosts are not enjoying the best of times having suffered three defeats in their last four competitive outings (W1, L3). Interestingly, all three of Spurs’ previous games have ended with the identical 1-0 scoreline (one in their favor and two against). Still, Maurizio Pochettino’s men have racked up a nine-game home unbeaten run across all competitions prior to a 1-0 home loss to West Ham at the weekend (W8, D1), keeping six clean sheets in that period while netting 2+ match goals five times in the process. Additionally, all three of Tottenham’s last CL home wins have seen them beat their rivals to nil although two of those triumphs ended with the narrow 1-0 scoreline.

Meanwhile, the visitors go into this meeting off the back of a 4-2 home win over Vitesse in the Eredivisie, which was their fourth straight competitive victory. A potential worry for Erik ten Hag ahead of this clash could be Ajax’s defensive frailties that have seen them concede at least one goal in nine of their last ten games across all competitions. Still, the Lancers have been impressive away from home in the CL (W3, D2), as all three of their triumphs saw them score over 1.5 match goals. Prolific in attack but not as convincing at the back, the Dutch giants have been an entertaining team to watch in the past five weeks, as five of their last eight competitive outings have featured over 3.5 goals, with Lancers bagging 3+ match goals across all five.