Thursday 20th August – 19:45 BST
🇪🇺 Conference League Qualifier ⚽
FC Sion vs. Ajax
FC Sion hosts Ajax in the last stage of the Conference League qualifying round. For Sion, this is a great opportunity to show themselves against a European powerhouse, while Ajax, on the other hand, are expected to prove why they are the favourites. Will we see a straightforward win for the Amsterdammers, or can Sion pull off an upset? Regardless of the result, Will Burns thinks we will see goals aplenty.
FC SION
Didier Tholot’s Sion have already impressed in qualifying, brushing aside BATE Borisov (5–1 agg.) and FC Noah (4–3). Swiss media call this Sion’s toughest test yet and rightly so, but they kept their core together over the summer, and Numa Lavanchy, Baltazar, Ilyas Chouaref, Ali Kabacalman and Winsley Boteli all come into this tie fresh after a 6–1 Cup win. Their home form recently is outstanding: four straight victories with a 12–3 goal difference.
Expect Sion to stay compact and break quickly through Chouaref and Boteli, while Ajax should control possession and push high with Steven Berghuis, Oscar Gloukh and Kasper Dolberg. Ajax’s back line can struggle against pace — something Sion will be eager to exploit, especially Boteli.
AJAX
With no weekend fixture, Michel can field a full‑strength XI here — even if he doesn’t necessarily need to. The sale of Mika Godts to PSG has removed a major source of quality from his squad.
As always, Ajax are boosted by a wave of emerging talent pushing into the first team, many of whom could feature in Sion on Thursday. New signing Jofre Torrents, the 19-year-old Barcelona loanee at left‑back, may get minutes. Aaron Bouwman, just 18, has impressed hugely and played every minute of the season so far, cementing himself at the heart of the defence. Congolese midfielder Jorthy Mokio is also pushing for a start after scoring against PEC Zwolle and providing an assist away at Shelbourne. And with Mika Godts now in Paris, 17‑year‑old Abdellah Ouazane, who smashed in a brilliant long‑range goal against Heerenveen on Sunday, looks set for a bigger role in the attack.
ANALYSIS
Both sides come into this with heavy evidence of goals. Sion are now unbeaten in the last six since their 4–2 opening‑day loss to Young Boys in the Swiss Superleague. They have scored 20 goals and conceded six in that run. Ajax haven’t lost since a 3–1 pre‑season defeat to Panathinaikos on July 4, putting together eight wins and three draws, with 25 goals scored and 10 conceded across 11 games in all competitions.
Sion have shown they can score freely, 20 goals in their last six matches makes that clear, and Ajax’s recent defensive struggles suggests they’re far from lock tight at the back. They conceded twice away to Shelbourne, once at home in the first leg, and another two at the Johan Cruyff Arena during their collapse against Heerenveen in the 2-2 draw at the weekend. So for me, an upcoming 0-0 draw, this is not.
Ajax, on paper, are the superior and more seasoned side at this level. Sion haven’t featured in European competition since the 2017–18 campaign, when they were knocked out in the third qualifying round by Lithuanian club Sūduva Marijampolė. Last season they finished fourth in the Swiss Super League, which was only their second year back in the top flight after earning promotion as champions of the Challenge League (second-tier of Swiss football) in 2023/24. Ajax should be winning this contest and no disrespect to Shelbourne, but Sion are a stronger outfit than the Irish side, so the Amsterdammers will need to up their performance here in the away leg of the tie.
In addition, Sion will hope to take a positive score line over to Amsterdam next week, this could be a really open contest.
PREDICTION
We have discussed how Ajax are haemorrhaging goals above, and Sion striker Winsley Boteli is in blistering form, hitting 7 goals in nine matches — all scored in seven different games since July 12. The 20-year old’s amount of goals in just over a month speaks for itself and he’s generously priced at 3.60 with SBK and 3.50 at Bet365.
If you wish to look at Ajax goal scorers, Julian Brandt has to be the pick of the bunch. He is yet to start a game so you may wish to wait for starting line-ups, but he has two goals in both substitute appearances away from home, against PEC Zwolle and Shelbourne.
Obviously, Ajax carry plenty of attacking threat too, scoring nine times in their first four games of the season so far but already conceding five. Looking at Sion, the numbers strongly support a high‑scoring game. Both Teams to Score has landed in three of Ajax’s four matches and in six of Sion’s eight across all competitions, while Over 3.5 Goals has hit in five of Sion’s eight and three of Ajax’s four. I think we’ll see another open, goal‑heavy encounter here.
| ⚽️ BET 1: Winsley Boteli to score 💷 1pt Best Odds: 3.60 at SBK ⚽️ BET 2: Julian Brandt to score 💷 1pt Best Odds: 3.60 at Bet365 ⚽️ BET 3: Both Teams to Score/Over 3.5 Goals 💷 1pt Best Odds: 2.80 at Sky Bet |
If you joining me with this selection, good luck.
Please gamble responsibly. BeGambleAware.org