Football Bet of the Day: To the Victor the spoils

• Galatasaray will make top eight with a win

• Ajax have lost three in a row in UEL

• Osimhen worth backing to score at 2.1411/10

Ajax v Galatasaray
Thursday 30 January, 20:00
Live on Discovery+

Stuttgart blew their big Champions League chance, as they collapsed to a 4-1 defeat last night at home to a rampant PSG. They crashed out of the competition with the finish line in sight, and perhaps even worse they took us down with them.

We'll hope for better in Amsterdam tonight, as Galatasaray chase a top-eight slot in the Europa League against Ajax.

After last season's debacle (Ajax finished fifth in the Eredivisie and went out of the Dutch Cup to an amateur side), the Dutch giants are rebuilding under Italian coach Francesco Farioli. In the league they are four points behind leaders PSV with a game in hand, although in the Europa League they have faded badly after a strong start.

Ajax won three of their first four games in the league phase, but then proceeded to lose three in a row, including an embarrassing reverse last time out at Latvian side Riga FS. They now cannot make the top eight, although they are virtually assured of a playoff.

Galatasaray can still make the top eight if they win, and considering they are fighting a fascinating title race with Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce, a couple of games off wouldn't do them any harm at all. Gala are unbeaten in the league phase, but a run of three straight draws in the competition has seen them lose momentum.

Surprise summer signing Victor Osimhen has shown his quality since arriving from Napoli. The Nigerian has scored 16 goals in 20 appearances in all competitions, and he has found the net in 12 of his last 17 appearances.

Ajax don't have much to play for here, and it remains to be seen whether Farioli will heavily rotate his team ahead of the weekend's crunch clash with Feyenoord. With Osimhen in such devastating form, backing him to score at 2.1411/10 seems like a sensible play.

Now read Kev's preview of FCSB v Manchester United here!