We go into this match with a 2-0 lead following last week’s first leg in Amsterdam which should be enough to see us through but I do believe that we could and should have really put this one to bed laast week.
In any case, one more goal for us tonight will surely put the tie beyond Ajax but they will probably be somewhat encouraged by some of our more lacklustre Old Trafford performances – particularly against European opposition – this season and so until we get that goal, I’d expect Ajax to give this a real go tonight.
The first half of the first leg resembled the first round of a boxing match where both fighters are just trying to find their range and feel their way into the fight without over-committing themselves and leaving themselves vulnerable. In the second half, we upped our workrate and generally looked a notch above Ajax in all departments. If we had started the match in the same vein then I’m convinced we’d be taking more than a 2-0 lead into this one.
However, after the disappointment of the home ties in the Champions League, the players surely won’t make the same mistakes again and we’ll get the job done this evening.
The first leg saw a fair bit of squad rotation by Fergie as he brought several players back in who had been suffering various injuries and I do suspect that we will see more of the same tonight although rumours that Paul Pogba could be given a game here refuse to go away (I seem to say that before every game these days though) and with Fergie “confirming” that Rooney is set to miss out due to some kind of throat infection which has prevented him from training, there could even be a rare appearance for the ever-reliable Michael Owen.
None of this would surprise me. We’re now really coming to the nitty gritty end of the season and Fergie will be doing his spinning plates act as he tries to ensure that as many players as possible are sharp and match fit at any given moment and that means not leaving any out in the cold for extended periods of time.
I’d like to think we will simply blow Ajax away this evening but it probably isn’t necessary – we only have to stop them scoring and if we can bang in one or two ourselves then the tie will be put beyond any doubt but whilst the price is tempting, I don’t have the confidence to go for the UNDER bet.
I’m going to go for us beating Ajax by a couple of goals again because, for all their pretty passing, they really didn’t look up to much going forward.
The bet is 2 points Man Utd -1.5 AH @ 2.12 with BetVictor (the new name for Victor Chandler).