Man Utd vs Ajax betting

Manchester United: League Position: 2nd, Form: LWDWW

Manchester United may not be happy to be in the Europa League, but with their elimination from every other cup competition they now have only this and the League to compete for. With Manchester City leading the league, with the Europa League United could end up trophyless. Not only that, this is also a competition Ferguson has never won, and he will hope not to compete in it again before his time is up.

Man Utd vs Ajax odds

They are lucky to have more and more players coming back to fitness, boosting their squad and giving them more options. They are used to two games a week when the business end of the season starts, but this tournament will be deemed less important. As such players will be rested, especially as they chase City in the league.

They stormed the first leg, attacking at will and enjoying their football. With their high end experience in European football they will know how to handle a 2-0 goal lead, should be comfortable with their plan and relax into the game like a top class team would. They have scored in all bar one of their matches this season, signs that two away goals will be utilised well.

Ajax: League Position: 6th, Form: LLWLW

Five points off the top of Eredivisie, Ajax are not the team they once were, and have not been for a long time. Once a power in Europe, more recently they have had to watch on from the sidelines. They are now struggling to be a power in the reasonably weak Dutch league.

Dutch legend Frank De Boer has a squad with talent scattered amongst it, but they have become even more about their youth products than ever before. However, without the money of the bigger boys, they have had to embrace the business model it is and sell this talent at the right times. Young midfielder Christian Eriksen looks to have the potential to be a world class player, and showed glimpses against Manchester United last week, but his career will see him move elsewhere in the not too distant future.

They recovered well from first leg defeat to beat Nijmegen 4-1 this weekend, but their form is patchy. Losses to Utrecht at home and Feyenoord away in their last five games are hard to look beyond as they head to Old Trafford.

Match Prediction: Manchester United Win – 1.36 Paddy Power

Although last week Sir Alex Ferguson had the liberty of a free weekend after the midweek tie, this week they face a Sunday match against Norwich. That, alongside the 2-0 cushion they have, probably means the team will be a little weaker than the first leg. However, United do have a reasonably well sized squad with the return of Scholes, Cleverley, Jones and Young recently.

Ajax did show glimpses of their potential last week, and are more likely to come at this tie all guns blazing than their counterparts. With United’s weaker defence this year, including goalkeeper De Gea, they could grab a goal to make the trip a bit more interesting, but Sir Alex will not want more embarrassment in Europe.

United were clearly better last week and will have the names in their team to win this even if a few are rested. Javier Hernandez seems to be being nursed into form by the manager, coming in and out of the team with Welbeck, and looked a constant threat last week, picking up a nice goal. Back him to open the scoring here.

Highlighted Bets:-

Over/Under: Over 2.5 Goals – 1.67 Sky Bet

First Goalscorer: Hernandez – 5.00 William Hill

Correct Score: 2-1 Manchester United – 9.00 Ladbrokes

*Click here for all the latest odds on upcoming football matches