APOEL v Ajax Betting Tip Both teams to score – 20 August 2019

Both teams to score in Cyprus

19th August 2019 / callum
Champions League Tips

CyprusAPOEL v AjaxNetherlands
Tuesday 20th August 2000hrs
Football – Europe – Champions League
Pick Both teams to score
Bookmaker William Hill
Odds: 17/20 (odds taken 20.00 GMT, Monday 19 August)

1 X 2
113/20 71/20 21/50

* (Betting Odds were taken from 22Bet on August 19, 2019 at 20.00)

Both APOEL and Ajax have had their dramatic moments in qualification so far. What will the first leg of their playoff tie have in store for us on Tuesday?

Champions League Playoff Betting at William Hill

APOEL Preview – Can Cypriots upset opponents and grab first leg lead?

I was of the opinion that APOEL had blown their chance of reaching this stage following a defeat in the first leg of their previous qualifier against Qarabag. To their huge credit, the Cypriot champions turned that tie around with an impressive 2-0 win in Baku to set up this tie with Ajax. It was the perfect away performance from APOEL with a clean sheet and goals coming in either half. It means they are yet to concede a goal on their travels in their two qualifiers so far. Coach Thomas Doll will be all too aware that his team will have to defend extremely well against this free-flowing Ajax team in both games. Should they turn in a similar performance as the home against Qarabag then the second leg would be virtually redundant.

Ajax win and both teams to score

21/10
Bet365

Ajax Preview – Will last year’s semi-finalists prove too good for APOEL?

The absurdity of the Champions League qualification process is summed up perfectly by Ajax requiring to go through two rounds of qualifiers just to reach the group stages. Despite winning the Dutch league last season and also coming within one minute of reaching the final itself, the Amsterdam club still have this playoff round to navigate. It could have been over even before this, however, following their match against PAOK in the previous round. The Greeks were always likely to be a difficult proposition and so it proved. The Dutch champions eventually prevailed 5-4 on aggregate but it was not without some drama and they did rely on two penalties from the prolific Dusan Tadic in that second leg at home.

There have been some notable departures from Ajax over the summer with the club recouping massive sums of money in return. As ever, the model ensures that they replace them with new exciting talent and on the early evidence it does not look to have altered their style of play or the number of goals they score. Ajax’s five competitive games so far have produced 22 goals with at least four goals in each. It is rarely dull and boring whenever they take the field and they will be expecting to trouble their opponents through this first leg tomorrow.

Key-Facts – APOEL v Ajax

  • APOEL were very impressive in turning round their third round qualifying tie but will have to step up again in order to defeat Ajax
  • Ajax were the story of last season’s Champions League coming within a minute of the final but still have to overcome this opponent to even reach this year’s group stag
  • The first five games of Ajax’s season saw 22 goals in total with at least four goals in each of them

APOEL v Ajax Betting Advice

This is another tie on paper and that sees a very heavily fancied team take on a club who have perhaps rode their luck to get to this stage. APOEL will not be bothered about that, however, and will take confidence from how they came back in the previous round. Ajax are without a doubt the best team in these qualifiers though so the Cypriots will have to hope for some luck along the way.
These clubs were drawn together in the Champions League group stage back in 2014/15. A hard fought 1-1 draw in Cyprus in the first game was followed with a thumping 4-0 win at home for Ajax. Clearly, these games are going to have no bearing on this playoff tie but it’s easy to make a case for a similar outcome. The visitors have so much threat all over the park that it’s difficult to see how they won’t score at least once. Ajax have kept just one clean sheet in their five games this season, though, and both teams to score looks an attractive selection in this game as a result.