Schalke vs Ajax
UEFA Europa League Quarterfinal Second Leg
Date: Thursday, 20th April 2017
Kick-off at 20:05 UK / 21:05 CET
Venue: Veltins Arena (Gelsenkirchen).
Schalke’s season went from bad to worse last week as they were comfortably beaten 2-0 away to Ajax in the first leg of this quarter final tie, with Davy Klaasen bagging both the goals to put the Dutch side in a commanding position going into the second leg.
The German side followed that disappointment up by losing yet another Bundesliga game, this time in a 2-1 defeat at Darmstadt to make it one win, one draw, and four defeats in their last six games in all competitions.
This leaves them all the way down in 11th position in the Bundesliga, and if they fail to overturn their two goal deficit against Ajax, this season will be classed as a complete and abject failure on all fronts.
Ajax are in very good form as well. They followed their midweek success with a 5-1 battering of Heerenveen to keep them within a point of Eredivisie leaders Feyenoord. This makes it seven wins and one draw in their last eight games.
Away from home they have struggled to pick up wins a bit more though, winning just two of their last six on the road and drawing three times. Meanwhile Schalke are unbeaten since January at home, but they have drawn four of these seven matches, including both of their Europa League ties.
Schalke have only kept three clean sheets in their last 13 home matches as well, which considering they failed to get an away goal in Amsterdam, is a very dangerous statistic. Ajax have found the net in nine of their last ten on the road too, but have only kept four clean sheets in the process.
With Schalke needing to go all out for the win here I can’t see them keeping it tight at the back, so I’m backing Both Teams to Score at 4/6. I’m going for a 2-1 win for Schalke at 15/2 for my correct score predictions, as I think Ajax will settle for that scoreline knowing that their hosts need another two goals to nullify their advantage.
Schalke 04
The Gelsenkirchen outfit are coming into this match on the back of some indifferent form. They lost in 3 of their last 4 matches and managed just 1 win from their last 5 in all competitions. On the weekend, they lost 2-1 in the away trip to Darmstadt, a team located at the foot of the Bundesliga table.
Schalke were terrific in the Europa League group stages and start off by winning five matches on the bounce. Since the first leg win at PAOK Thessaloniki FC, they have drawn 3 in a row before the defeat at Ajax.
Ajax
The Dutch side are coming on the back of a 5-match winning run. They are scoring at an incredible rate and average 3.6 goals per game during the time.
Their lone defeat in the calendar year in any competition came during the away leg of Europa League round of 16 tie at FC Copenhagen. This remains to be their only defeat in the competition as well.
Ajax had won just once in their 5 Europa League away matches this season. They drew three games before the defeat at Denmark.
Schalke vs Ajax: Head-to-head
Ajax’s 2-0 win at Amsterdam Arena last week is their lone UEFA match against Schalke.
Schalke have a poor away record against Dutch teams. But they had won all the three home matches by a margin of 3 or more goals.
Ajax have a good record against German sides which reads 21W-5D-7L from 33 matches. Their 16 previous visits to Germany saw 6 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses.
Schalke vs Ajax: Prediction
This is a huge ask for Schalke as they must overturn a 2-goal deficit to ensure progress in the tournament. Their form coming into this match is far from impressive and this is why Ajax look well set to reach the semi-finals. The Eredivisie side are in some terrific form and we don’t see them losing here.
