F.C. Copenhagen v Ajax Betting Tips: Tight game expected at Parken Stadium

Copenhagen and Ajax are two sides who advanced to the last-16 in rather unassuming style. The Dutch outfit squeezed through with a 1-0 aggregate score-line against Legia, while Copenhagen also secured passage to the last-16 via a single-goal aggregate victory (2-1).

On the face of it, this looks to be a tie that is particularly hard to call. Neither of these two teams are easy to beat in their respective home and away matches and we could be in for quite a cagey, low-key affair here. There are two bets that catch the eye and these are: ‘0-0 at Half-Time’ and ‘Under 1.5 Goals’.

Unlike many of the teams left in this competition, both Copenhagen and Ajax haven’t exactly set the world alight from a goal-scoring point of view recently. Other than beating Horsens – a team who certainly don’t match Ajax for stature – 5-0 at the weekend, Copenhagen have found goals hard to come by of late, scoring just once in their four matches prior to that weekend demolition job. Ajax are in a similar position having scored more than once in just one of their last five. In addition, five of this pair’s last ten combined have seen less than two match goals hit the net, while six of those ten were 0-0 at half-time.

In shutting out their opposition in four of their last five away matches, Ajax have done a tidy job of keeping teams at bay before making them pay at the other end with the odd goal, although they certainly haven’t gone overboard in terms of scoring, finding the net more than once in just one of their last five. Peter Bosz’s men could well adopt a similar style here, especially with this first-leg being away from home. Against a useful Copenhagen side, it’s more than likely that containment will be the primary aim from Ajax’s point of view, much like it was when they traveled to Poland in the last round (finished 0-0).

Before dropping into this competition, Copenhagen acquitted themselves very well on their own patch in the Champions League. So well in fact that they kept a clean sheet in all three of their group matches on home soil. The fact that they only found the net in one of those – against a poor Club Brugge side – also bodes well ahead of this one. A 0-0 draw in front of a home crowd against Ludogorets in the last-32 of this competition once again showcased their defensive solidity and the hosts are likely to be confident of keeping things nice and tight in this one too.

With just four goals conceded between them in their eight combined home and away European matches this season, it’s fair to say that we’re talking about two sides who defend well – something that is expected to continue when they face each other.

Early goals are not exactly a speciality of either – five of their eight combined home and away European matches so far this season were 0-0 at half-time – so it would something of a surprise if this pair suddenly sprang into life in the first half of this fixture.

All things considered, as we begin to enter the really serious stages of this knockout competition, these two are expected to be involved in yet another cagey, and ultimately low-scoring, encounter.

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