Aston Villa vs Ajax tips and predictions: Dutch giants looking to knockout wounded Villans

Seb Sternik
13 March 2024

A place in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League will be on the line when Aston Villa host Ajax at Villa Park this Thursday night (2000 GMT).

On paper, this is arguably the biggest fixture in the round-of-16 of this competition. On one hand you have a top four Premier League contender coming up against a major European brand.

But upon closer inspection, this may not be as thrilling as you might expect.

Villa, for instance, enter this match on the back of a 4-0 drubbing to Tottenham – Unai Emery’s joint-heaviest career loss at home.

For the first 15 games at Villa Park this season, the Villans only suffered one defeat as the ground became an indomitable fortress.

More recently, the fortress has turned into an oasis of goals for visiting teams. Villa have lost four of their last five at home, conceding 14 goals along the way.

Ajax aren’t doing much better. The Dutch giants have only picked up one win inside 90 minutes from their last nine outings.

The Amsterdam outfit needed a late equaliser to avoid an eighth league defeat over the weekend. To make matters worse, Ajax have lost their last four away games against Premier League opposition.

The first leg of this round-of-16 tie ended in a goalless draw. With both clubs far from their best, we’re expecting another close encounter.

One goal winning margin is the way to go in the betting. Under 2.5 goals and Aston Villa to progress are also enticing options.

Team news

Aston Villa head into Thursday’s match without Emiliano Buendia, Boubacar Kamara, Tyrone Mings and the suspended pair of Ezri Konsa and Nicolo Zaniolo.

Ajax, meanwhile, are missing Steven Berghuis and Tristan Gooijer. There are also doubts over Gaston Avila, Steven Bergwijn and Amourricho van Axel Dongen.