Sion – Ajax Preview – Who blinks first in this play-off opener?
If you’re after Sion vs Ajax betting tips for Thursday’s Conference League play-off, start with the shape of this tie rather than the name on the away shirt. Ajax arrive at Stade de Tourbillon on 20 August at 18:15 GMT for their third straight two-legged qualifier of the summer, still chasing a place in the league phase that a club with five European Cups on the shelf would once have reached without much fuss. Sion, by contrast, have barely stopped scoring lately. Neither side arrives here as the favourite. This one reads as a genuine coin toss with goals attached, and the stakes are stark either way: win the tie and you’re into the league phase, lose it and your European season is over.
Getting here took some doing for Ajax. Vojvodina were dispatched without much fuss in the second qualifying round, but Shelbourne pushed them harder than the aggregate suggests: a routed away leg gave way to a home draw that let the Irish side back into the tie before Ajax closed it out. Anyone who read our tips for that home leg against Shelbourne will know this Ajax side has not exactly cruised through the summer, and a Swiss club that finished well up their own domestic table won’t be a comfortable way to close that story out.
Sion’s own route was shorter but no less pointed. They cruised past BATE Borisov to reach this round, and the goals have kept coming since, easing past Luzern domestically earlier this month. There was a wobble too: a defeat away to Young Boys before the turn of August, in which the back line leaked goals it should not have. That crack at the back matters once you get to the tips, because it means this Sion side can be got at just as easily as it can score.
Sion – Ajax Betting Tips
Both sides have shown they can find the net, and both have shown they can be got at. That shapes every pick below.
Betting Tip: Both teams to score
Sion shipped goals freely in that loss to Young Boys, hardly the mark of a settled defence, while Ajax needed to score at both ends across the two legs against Shelbourne just to get over the line. Backing both teams to score leans on recent evidence from both boxes, not a hunch.
Betting Tip: Over 2.5 goals
Ajax’s double header with Shelbourne produced goals for both sides in each leg, and Sion’s win over BATE Borisov was similarly free-scoring. Two teams that keep finding the net in continental football rarely produce a tight, low-scoring night in the Swiss mountains, so over 2.5 goals is the shape of game this points to.
Betting Tip: Double chance Sion or draw
Domestically Sion have been ruthless, brushing Luzern aside with room to spare, while Ajax’s form in this competition is built on a routed away leg followed by a home draw that let Shelbourne back in. A side that only draws its home continental games has to be respected on the road, and double chance: Sion or draw covers the two outcomes that fit a genuinely even tie. Markets like these tend to move once team news lands, so it’s worth checking the latest match odds on the sportsbook before settling on a stake.
The tie isn’t decided on Thursday
Whatever happens in Valais, this one runs to a second act. The return leg in Amsterdam on 27 August decides who plays on in Europe this season and who is out for good, which is exactly the kind of stakes that make the first leg worth a proper look rather than a passing glance. Get your read on leg one locked in early, and revisit the tips once the away side is confirmed for the return.
BetTipster specializes in football analysis, match predictions, and betting insights. Combining statistical research, team analysis, and market trends, BetTipster provides tournament forecasts, betting tips, and football coverage focused on helping readers stay informed throughout the biggest competitions in world football.
