Ajax and Marseille will kick off their Europa League group campaigns on Thursday, when they square off in the opening round of fixtures at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.

The Dutch hosts reached this stage by progressing past Ludogorets Razgrad in the playoff round, while their hosts fell short in Champions League qualifying and find themselves in Europe's second competition as a result.

Match preview

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Ajax headed into the 2023-24 season on the back of a disappointing campaign by their own standards last time around, as their search for a fourth straight Eredivisie title culminated in a third-placed finish, 13 points behind winners Feyenoord, while also finishing third in their Champions League group and dropping into the Europa League knockout playoff round, in which their continental run was ended in a 3-1 defeat to Union Berlin.

The third-placed league finish was only enough to earn De Godenzonen a place in the playoff round of this year's Europa League qualifying, and Ludogorets Razgrad stood in their way, but the Dutch outfit were able to carry a healthy lead into their home leg thanks to a 4-1 victory in Bulgaria.

Mohammed Kudus starred in that away trip in late August with a hat-trick, alongside a Brian Brobbey goal, before Olivier Verdon pulled one back for their opponents, and despite suffering a disappointing 1-0 defeat in the return leg in Amsterdam, with Matias Tissera netting the only goal on the hour mark, Maurice Steijn's side had done enough to book their place in the group.

Steijn stepped into the hot seat at the Johan Cruyff ArenA over the summer and has overseen another tough Eredivisie start for the Dutch giants, who sit on just five points after four outings, having starting with a victory over Heracles only to play out disappointing draws with Excelsior and Fortuna Sittard before most recently suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of FC Twente at the weekend, as Brobbey pulled the game back to 2-1 in the first half, only for Naci Unuvar to re-establish the hosts' cushion 11 minutes from time.

Left wounded by the difficult start in their bid to regain the domestic title, Ajax will now turn their focus to continental action with the aim of kicking off with three points on home turf.

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They meet a Marseille side who begin life in Europe's secondary competition following an unsuccessful Champions League qualifying bid at the start of the new term.

After finishing third in Ligue 1 last season with 73 points from their 38 games, Les Olympiens earned a place in the third qualifying round for the Champions League and met Greek outfit Panathinaikos, leaving work to do in the home leg as they suffered a 1-0 first-leg defeat on their travels.

They looked to have overturned that deficit and booked a place in the playoff round, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had them 2-0 up heading into injury time, only for the French side to be pegged back by a Fotis Ioannidis penalty, forcing a period of extra time and a following penalty shootout, which the visitors prevailed in, confining Marseille to the Europa League as a result.

Following Marcelino's summer appointment, Les Olympiens have thus far maintained an unbeaten Ligue 1 record in five outings, albeit with only two of those being victories, and they now head into Thursday's trip on the back of consecutive draws, firstly travelling to Nantes with the contest ending level at a goal apiece, despite Marseille leading through Ismaila Sarr inside five minutes and the hosts being reduced to 10 men five minutes later, before most recently being held to a disappointing goalless stalemate at home to Toulouse on Sunday.

With Marcelino now set to depart the club already alongside president Pablo Longoria due to off-field issues, the French giants will now aim to focus on their important upcoming action and seek to make a return to winning ways on Thursday when they travel to the Netherlands, with the aim of establishing their dominance in the group ahead of meetings with Brighton & Hove Albion and AEK Athens.

Team News

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Ajax's only absentees ahead of Thursday's game should again be goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and young defender Ahmetcan Kaplan, while Steijn may look to make several changes after their recent defeat to FC Twente, with Branco van den Boomen and Kenneth Taylor fighting to displace Benjamin Tahirovic and Sivert Mannsverk in midfield.

In their 4-2-3-1 shape, there is also competition in attack, with Brian Brobbey hoping to keep his place up front having managed three goals so far this season, while Steven Bergwijn, Steven Berghuis and summer signing Chuba Akpom lining up in a supporting trio last weekend following key man Mohammed Kudus's recent exit to West Ham United, and new arrivals Carlos Borges and Georges Mikautadze are both vying to come in from the start after appearing off the bench in that game.

Anton Gaaei will hope to earn a spot in defence, while Josip Sutalo and Jorrel Hato should again partner up at the heart of the back four.

Marseille will remain without Ismaila Sarr heading into Wednesday's trip, with the winger sidelined by an injury after contributing two goals and two assists in his first six appearances across Ligue 1 and Champions League qualifying action following a summer move from Watford.

In his absence, Joaquin Correa and Francois Mughe could again line up on the flanks in a 4-4-2 setup, with Geoffrey Kondogbia hoping to come in in the engine room alongside either Valentin Rongier or Jordan Veretout.

Changes could also be made in attack, with fellow summer signing Iliman Ndiaye expected to come in and join former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front, while at the opposite end of the pitch, Jonathan Clauss, Chancel Mbemba, Leonardo Balerdi and Renan Lodi should line up in an unchanged back four, if Balerdi is deemed fit following a slight injury concern.

Ajax possible starting lineup:
Gorter; Gaaei, Sutalo, Hato, Sosa; Van Den Boomen, Taylor; Borges, Mikautadze, Bergwijn; Brobbey

Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Clauss, Mbemba, Balerdi, Lodi; Mughe, Kondogbia, Veretout, Correa; Ndiaye, Aubameyang

We say: Ajax 1-1 Marseille

Given both sides have experienced starts to the season which may not be characteristic of their quality, it is tough to call Thursday's contest as both seek to find their best form.

The hosts are certainly not brimming with confidence or momentum, while their visitors deal with instability likely under temporary management, and as such we cannot predict a winner and instead opt for a share of the spoils in the Dutch capital.


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