Ajax – Sion Preview – Can Sion complete a great escape?
Four goals in Switzerland gave Ajax a serious head start, and now Sion have to find a way past them at the Johan Cruijff ArenA with the tie sitting at 4-2. That gap shapes our Ajax vs Sion betting tips for Thursday’s second leg: a home side happy to play on the counter against opponents who have no real choice but to gamble. Kick-off is 18:00 GMT on 27 August, and on the balance of the tie, Ajax are the ones with the cushion to work with.
For ninety minutes alone, this could be closer than the aggregate score suggests. Ajax remain favourites to progress, even if Thursday’s game in isolation looks close to even money. That gap between “who wins the tie” and “who wins the night” is exactly where the interesting bets live.
Ajax – Sion Betting Tips
Betting Tip: Ajax to win
A two-goal cushion changes how Sion have to set up. They cannot sit deep and hope to nick a goal on the break, not against a two-leg deficit this size, so expect them to commit numbers forward from early on. That leaves space in behind for Ajax’s front players to exploit, and a home win in normal time is the most likely way this tie is put fully to bed.
Betting Tip: Both teams to score
Sion have to score, probably more than once, so they will take risks that open up their own defence further. Ajax’s back line was already breached twice in the first leg, and there’s nothing in how either side is set up that suggests a sudden defensive discipline breaks out on Thursday. Before backing this one, it’s worth checking the latest match odds to see how the market is pricing that trade-off.
Betting Tip: Over 2.5 goals
Six goals across ninety minutes in Switzerland wasn’t a one-off collapse from either back line, it was two teams playing an open, end-to-end game. With Sion forced to chase and Ajax happy to counter into the space that creates, the same pattern looks likely to repeat itself in Amsterdam.
Six goals in Switzerland set the tone
The first leg wasn’t cagey. Ajax had to come from behind to win it, with goals from Julian Brandt, Marcos Leonardo, Tolu Arokodare and Davy Klaassen eventually getting them over the line 4-2 away from home, as we noted when previewing that first leg. Six goals in one match tells you plenty. Ajax have scoring threats scattered through the team rather than one outlet, and their own defence had a rough evening too. Neither side looked settled at the back, and there’s little reason to expect a sudden change of character now the stakes are higher.
That matters even more once you think about what Sion actually need. A two-goal deficit isn’t hopeless at this level, but it forces a team to open up from the first whistle rather than sit in and hope for a mistake. Every extra body Sion push forward is a gap for Ajax’s front line to run into, and Ajax showed in their opening qualifying tie of this campaign, a tighter, more nervy win over Shelbourne, that they can grind out a result even when the game isn’t flowing their way.
There’s a fitness question hanging over the hosts too. Brian Brobbey has been working back from an ankle injury picked up in a preseason friendly against Monaco, and Ajax haven’t needed to lean on any single forward to find goals this summer regardless.
The verdict on Thursday night
Strip away the aggregate score and this still looks a fun, open match rather than a formality played out in front of a resigned home crowd. Ajax have the lead, the crowd and the tactical luxury of sitting off and hitting Sion on the break. Sion have nothing to lose and every reason to throw men forward. That combination usually means goals at both ends, and it points towards a home win that doesn’t come with a clean sheet attached.
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