Ajax vs Aston Villa tips and predictions: Villans to claim famous win against European giants

Things have been relatively straightforward for Aston Villa on their first foray back into European football for over a decade, but now is when things become more challenging.

In Ajax, Villa got arguably the toughest draw they could get, with other teams in the unseeded pot including Sturm Graz, Molde and Servette. 

However, Villans fans get their first taste of a proper European away day and rarely would they stand a better chance of beating the Dutch giants on their own patch. 

Ajax were knocked out of their Europa League group, which included fellow Premier League side Brighton, and dropped into the Conference League, as well as that they have struggled domestically this season.

They currently lie fifth, a whopping 25 points off leaders PSV, but it was worse at one point though, after they picked up just five points in their first seven games. 

Unai Emery will see this as a chance for some major silverware to enter through the doors of Villa Park for the first time since 1996, when they beat Leeds in the League Cup final. 

One man who will be key to that is Ollie Watkins, who has 21 goals across all competitions this season, including five in this competition. 

He has scored seven in his last six league games and will be eyeing up a goal or two against an Ajax side that has leaked goals this season. 

Across all competitions, Ajax's games have come with goals, with there being 137 goals in their 35 games this season, an average of just under four per game. 

While their defence has been leaky their attack has been on form and they have found the back of the net in each of their last nine home games across all competitions and Brian Brobbey has led the attack exceptionally scoring 19 goals in 33 appearances. 

Aston Villa hit a rocky patch when they lost at home to Newcastle, Man United and Chelsea in quick succession, but they have won their last three in the league, scoring nine goals in that period. 

While the Dutch giants may have been a daunting test for English teams in years gone by, this is a much weaker Ajax side so expect goals and an Aston Villa win. 

 

Team news

Steven Bergwijn, Gaston Avila and Remko Pasveer are all ruled out for the hosts, while Steven Berghuis and Josip Sutalo are doubtful.

Boubacar Kamara, Jhon Duran, Diego Carlos, Jacob Ramsay, Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings are all ruled out for the visitors.

 

Key stats

- The last time these two sides faced each other was in the UEFA Cup in 2008, when Aston Villa won 2-1 at Villa Park

- The last time Ajax beat an English side in European competition was in 2019 when they beat Tottenham 1-0 in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final

- Ollie Watkins has scored 21 goals this season across all competitions

- Aston Villa only kept one clean sheet in the Conference League group stage

 

Suggested bets

Aston Villa to win

Ollie Watkins to score in 90 mins

Over 3.5 match goals