Villarreal vs Ajax prediction 20.01.2026 | Champions League
Villarreal
Kick off:
Date:
Ajax
1
1.57
X
4.83
2
5.89
Contents
- Competition: Champions League
- Date: Tuesday, 20th January, 2026
- Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CET
- Venue: Estadio de la Ceramica (Villarreal)
On Tuesday evening, two teams that have struggled badly in the Champions League so far, Villarreal and Ajax, will meet in the seventh round in their first-ever h2h encounter. With just one point from six matches, Villarreal still have a theoretical chance of reaching the knockout phase, but realistically, their hopes are almost zero. Ajax, on the other hand, kept their qualification hopes alive by finally picking up their first three points in the previous round. However, the Dutch side now finds itself in a must-win situation, as they need victories in both remaining matches to have some chance of progressing.
Let's break down the game and find the best possible bet for this Champions League tie.
Villarreal team overview
In over a decade, Villarreal have been mostly in the upper half of the league table, pretty much constantly securing Europe. This year, they had two totally opposite performances in La Liga and the Cups (Copa del Rey and Champions League). While in the league, the Yellow Submarine were fantastic and are currently sitting in 3rd place with 41 points in 19 rounds, they have been eliminated from the domestic Cup by Racing Santander and are pretty much without a chance of advancing in the CL.
Ilias Akhomach and Pape Gueye will be unavailable for the game as they reached the AFCON Finals with their national teams, Morocco and Senegal. Besides them, the team will miss Logan Costa, Thiago Fernandez, and Willy Kambwala, who will remain sidelined with injuries.
Last matches of Villarreal
-
Real Betis
2 : 0
Villarreal
La Liga
-
Villarreal
3 : 1
Alaves
La Liga
-
Elche
1 : 3
Villarreal
La Liga
-
Villarreal
0 : 2
FC Barcelona
La Liga
-
Racing Santander
2 : 1
Villarreal
Copa Del Rey
Villarreal lineup
Goalkeeper
-
1
Luiz Júnior
Defenders
-
15
Santiago Mouriño
-
8
Juan Foyth
-
12
Renato Veiga
-
24
Alfonso Pedraza
Midfielders
-
17
Tajon Buchanan
-
14
Santi Comesaña
-
10
Dani Parejo
-
20
Alberto Moleiro
Forwards
-
7
Gerard Moreno
-
9
Georges Mikautadze
Ajax team overview
Ajax, a 36-time Dutch champion, finished their last season trophyless. They blew their chance for another title, crumbling in the final part of the season and eventually losing the Eredivisie title by one point. This season, "de Godenzonen" are playing a terrible season across the competitions, at least by their standards. They were especially terrible until late November, which eventually led to changing the coach. After that, they started playing much better, but once again suffered a massive defeat, as AZ Alkmaar eliminated them from the Cup 6:0! They are also 18 points away from the top spot in the Eredivisie and have a very poor chance to advance in the CL. So, it seems the Dutch giant will finish back-to-back seasons without a trophy.
After a 2:2 draw against Go Ahead Eagles, coach Fred Grim spoke to the media. He said they unnecessarily dropped points, saying they weren't clinical enough. The coach added they should have been 3:0 or 4:0 up in the first half, but have to be more decisive in front of the goal.
Last matches of Ajax
-
Ajax
2 : 2
Go Ahead Eagles
Eredivisie
-
AZ Alkmaar
6 : 0
Ajax
KNVB Beker
-
Telstar
2 : 3
Ajax
Eredivisie
-
Ajax
4 : 0
RFC Seraing
Club Friendlies 1
-
NEC Nijmegen
2 : 2
Ajax
Eredivisie
Ajax lineup
Goalkeeper
-
1
Vitezslav Jaros
Defenders
-
3
Anton Gaaei
-
4
Ko Itakura
-
30
Aaron Bouwman
-
2
Lucas Rosa
Midfielders
-
48
Sean Steur
-
6
Youri Regeer
-
18
Davy Klaassen
-
10
Oscar Gloukh
Forwards
-
43
Rayane Bounida
-
11
Mika Godts
Prediction
Villareal went over 2.5 goals in two out of the last three games. They have also been pretty good offensively at home, scoring two or more goals in five of the previous six games. They only failed to do that in a game against Barcelona. So, we believe they should do well offensively against Ajax, which allowed two or more goals in 12 out of 14 road games - an incredible 86%.
Ajax are one of the teams that have consistently played high-scoring games, going over 3.5 goals in the last five games across competitions. On the road, they have been incredible for this type of bet, as they have gone over 2.5 goals in 13 out of 14 games.
Considering all the above, we expect a high-scoring game, most likely with both teams scoring.
3 Reasons why we should see three or more goals
- Villarreal scored two or more goals in five out of the last six home games
- Villarreal went over 2.5 goals in two of the previous three games
- Ajax went over 2.5 goals in 13 out of 14 road games
Main prediction Villarreal - Ajax
Over 2.5 goals
Best Odds:
Melbet
1.45
Villarreal vs Ajax standings in Champions League
| League Stage | P | W | D | L |
G - A
|
GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 17 - 1 | +16 | 18 |
| 2 | FC Bayern München | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 18 - 7 | +11 | 15 |
| 3 | Paris Saint Germain | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 19 - 8 | +11 | 13 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 - 6 | +6 | 13 |
| 5 | Atalanta | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 - 6 | +2 | 13 |
| 6 | Inter | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 - 4 | +8 | 12 |
| 7 | Real Madrid | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 - 7 | +6 | 12 |
| 8 | Atlético Madrid | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 15 - 12 | +3 | 12 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 - 8 | +3 | 12 |
| 10 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 19 - 13 | +6 | 11 |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 - 7 | +6 | 11 |
| 12 | Newcastle United | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 - 6 | +7 | 10 |
| 13 | Chelsea | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 - 8 | +5 | 10 |
| 14 | Sporting CP | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 - 8 | +4 | 10 |
| 15 | FC Barcelona | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 - 11 | +3 | 10 |
| 16 | Olympique Marseille | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 - 8 | +3 | 9 |
| 17 | Juventus | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 - 10 | +2 | 9 |
| 18 | Galatasaray | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 - 8 | 0 | 9 |
| 19 | Monaco | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 - 8 | -1 | 9 |
| 20 | Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 - 12 | -2 | 9 |
| 21 | PSV | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 15 - 11 | +4 | 8 |
| 22 | Qarabağ | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 - 13 | -3 | 7 |
| 23 | Napoli | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 - 11 | -5 | 7 |
| 24 | FC København | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 - 16 | -6 | 7 |
| 25 | Benfica | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 - 8 | -2 | 6 |
| 26 | Pafos FC | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 - 9 | -5 | 6 |
| 27 | Union Saint-Gilloise | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 - 15 | -8 | 6 |
| 28 | Athletic Club | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 - 9 | -5 | 5 |
| 29 | Olympiacos F.C. | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 - 13 | -7 | 5 |
| 30 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 - 16 | -8 | 4 |
| 31 | Club Brugge | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 - 16 | -8 | 4 |
| 32 | Bodø / Glimt | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 - 13 | -4 | 3 |
| 33 | Slavia Praha | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 - 11 | -9 | 3 |
| 34 | Ajax | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 - 18 | -13 | 3 |
| 35 | Villarreal | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 - 13 | -9 | 1 |
| 36 | Kairat | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 - 15 | -11 | 1 |