Who will make it to the Europa League?

Jagiellonia Bialystok will face Ajax Amsterdam in the fourth round of Europa League qualifying on Thursday, 22.08.2024. The roles are quite clear in advance, as while the home side have never made it past the qualifying round, the visitors have regularly taken part in international competitions. As a result, the Jagiellonia Bialystok vs Ajax Amsterdam betting odds clearly favor a win for the away team

However, we are far from talking about a one-sided duel ahead of this match. This is primarily due to the fact that Ajax are hardly recognizable compared to recent years. The quality of the squad has diminished considerably and this can also be seen in the market value of the players. In addition, the Polish teams are usually very robust and therefore not easy to play against. Therefore, the Jagiellonia Bialystok and Ajax Amsterdam odds should be closer together

In the search for value, we have a recommendation for you that probably not everyone will have on their radar. Between Jagiellonia Bialystok and Ajax Amsterdam, we recommend a win for the visiting team in at least one of the two halves. The Polish stadium will be buzzing, as this clash is a real highlight for the hosts. Given the current form of the visiting team, we can even imagine that the Polish representative will draw the home game.

Kick-off for this match is at 20:45 on Thursday at the Bialystok City Stadium in Bialystok. The match can be watched live and in full on RTL+.

Jagiellonia Bialystok – Statistics & current form

Jagiellonia were the surprise team of the Ekstraklasa and secured the Polish championship last season. In the process, Adrian Siemieniec’s team also secured a place in the qualifying round for the Champions League. The Poles had never achieved this before and were therefore naturally full of anticipation. It was also the first championship title for the team from Bialystok and therefore the biggest success in the club’s history

Jagiellonia miss out on the premier class

As the reigning Polish champions, the home side were seeded for the second round of the CL qualifiers, where they faced Lithuanian champions FK Panevezys. The Poles won 7:1 to progress to the next round without any problems. In the third knockout round, however, it was over. Bodo/Glimt, the reigning champions from Norway, won 5:1 overall and were simply too big for them. The team from Bialystok will now fight for a place in the Europa League

Jesus Imaz in focus

The Red & Yellows have a somewhat unusual line-up for a Polish first division team, as only twelve Poles play for Jagiellonia. The remaining 14 players were all brought in from abroad. One of them is Jesus Imaz, who moved from Cadiz to Poland back in 2017 and joined Wisla Krakow at the time. His move to Jagiellonia followed just two years later. The Spaniard is an undisputed regular there and is also the top scorer with six goals in the first eight games

Offensive power at Jagiellonia

With 87 goals in 39 competitive games (Ø 2.23), the host’s offense was almost impossible to defend against last season. That is quite unusual, as goals are usually few and far between in the Ekstraklasa. Nevertheless, Adrian Siemieniec’s team scored 26 goals more than runners-up Slask Wroclaw. With nine goals in the first four games, this trend has continued into the new season. In addition, Jagiellonia have only failed to score once

Bialystok with defensive problems

While the offense is doing an excellent job, the defense is clearly falling short of its own expectations. With twelve goals conceded in the first eight games (average 1.33) of the new season, the average has even deteriorated slightly compared to the previous year (average 1.25). Especially in the duel against Bodo/Glimt, the Poles revealed their own weaknesses and were even well served with five goals conceded after 180 minutes. A clean sheet against Ajax therefore seems unlikely.

Predicted line-up of Jagiellonia Bialystok:
Abramowicz – Sacek, Skrzypczak, Dieguez, Moutinho – Nene, Romanczuk, Marczuk, Imaz, Hansen – Pululu

Ajax Amsterdam – Statistics & current form

Ajax cannot be at all satisfied with the past season, as the team from Amsterdam finished in fifth place with 56 points from 34 games. Previously, the club had always finished at least in the top three in the past 17 years. It was also the worst season in 24 years and therefore a major setback. Participation in the Europa League qualifiers is little consolation, as the Dutch normally play in the top flight

Ajax stumble

Ajax’s international journey in the second qualifying round began with a clash against FK Vojvodina. However, Francesco Farioli’s team had no problems against the fourth-placed team in the Serbian top flight and won 3:1 without any problems. It was a different story in the third round, as the Dutch record champions even had to go to penalties against Panathinaikos Athens in the end

Super talent Mika Godts

After struggling against Panathinaikos Athens last week, the visiting team followed up with a defeat against promoted NAC Breda at the weekend. The defeat came as no great surprise, however, as Ajax’s play fell far short of their own expectations. Mika Godts is one of the few bright spots in the team and is even the top scorer with three assists in six games. The 19-year-old Belgian seems to be on the verge of his big breakthrough

Amsterdam struggles to score

The visitors once had one of the best offenses in Europe and even caused a sensation in the top flight. There is little evidence of this at the moment, as Francesco Farioli’s team have lacked the necessary punch so far, scoring seven goals in their first six games. However, it has not only failed to convert chances, but also to create them. However, with players like Godts, Brobbey, Bergwijn, Akpom, Traore and Berghuis, this is quite surprising

Ajax current strength

While their offense still seems to be in a summer slump, the defense has been convincing so far. Overall, Francesco Farioli’s team have conceded very few chances and have therefore only conceded four goals. The two goals conceded against NAC Breda may cast some doubt on this theory, but it was rarely really dangerous in the visiting team’s penalty area. We are therefore convinced that this was just a slip-up.

Ajax Amsterdam’s probable line-up:
Pasveer – Rensch, Sutalo, Bass, Hato – Fritz-Jim, Henderson, Taylor – Berghuis, Brobbery, Borges

Jagiellonia Bialystok – Ajax Amsterdam head-to-head / H2H record

The direct comparison is not very meaningful, as the two teams have never met before. This is of course due to the fact that the visitors are on a completely different level and normally belong to the European elite. This is not the case for the home side, as apart from a few qualifying matches, the Polish team lacks international experience. For this reason, our prediction between Jagiellonia Bialystok and Ajax Amsterdam also goes in the direction of the visiting team:

Jagiellonia Bialystok – Ajax Amsterdam betting tip

The visiting team has looked very battered recently and even lost their last two competitive games. Especially the defeat against Breda should give the Dutch record champions food for thought, because the Polish representative should be even better than the promoted team. Especially at home, in their own stadium, we think the Poles are capable of a lot. We therefore recommend betting on “both teams score – yes” between Jagiellonia Bialystok and Ajax Amsterdam

Alternatively, we recommend the Jagiellonia Bialystok and Ajax Amsterdam betting tip on a point win for the home side. If the hosts want to advance to the Europa League, Adrian Siemieniec’s team will need a top performance at home. We are certain that the Poles are capable of doing so and are an unpleasant opponent with their robust style of play. What’s more, the visitors are not in their best form at the moment, so this bet doesn’t sound too far-fetched