Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah have been praised by former Ajax star Rafael van der Vaart ahead of their trip to face Liverpool tonight.
The Champions League returns once again with a condensed group stage schedule ahead of the World Cup later this year.
Liverpool are desperate for a response after being hammered 4-1 away at Napoli last week.
Jurgen Klopp’s men just can’t start with two defeats to open their group stage campaign, so they must beat JAax tonight.
Ajax opened with a 4-0 thrashing of Rangers so the Dutch side aren’t to be taken lightly this evening.
Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah have been praised
Ajax may have lost Erik ten Hag, Antony, Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui, Ryan Gravenberch and Sebastien Haller but they’re still a major threat.
Ajax are under no illusions about the task facing them though given that Liverpool have enormous, world-class quality.
Sure, Liverpool are enduring a a difficult moment right now and don’t seem to be playing with their usual fluency, but write them off at your peril.
That’s what Rafael van der Vaart thinks too, with the former Tottenham Hotspur playmaker now a pundit over in the Netherlands.
Van der Vaart has spoken about the Liverpool side ahead of tonight’s game and picked out two players he is fearing.
The Dutchman has been quoted by Voetbal International as saying that he is only afraid of two players – Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.
Van der Vaart feels that the only reason Ajax ‘will never win’ at Liverpool is if Diaz and Salah are both on top form.
He feels that Daley Blind and Devyne Rensch just aren’t quite good enough in the full back positions to cope with Diaz and Salah at their best.
‘The only thing I’m afraid of at Ajax is: if Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah do have their day, then we have a problem,” said Van der Vaart. “Then Ajax will never win. Certainly not at Anfield, I don’t think Daley Blind and Devyne Rensch are good enough for that,” he added.
Diaz has been a shining light for Liverpool this season and wouldn’t say die against Napoli last week, continuing to push even at 4-0 down; that’s how he got his goal in Naples.
The Colombian is likely to start on the left flank for Liverpool tonight and will be relied upon to provide a real attacking threat.
Salah was outstanding last season but hasn’t quite hit those heights so far this term and has only managed one non-penalty goal this season.
Liverpool need more from Salah and if both he and Diaz can turn up tonight, the Reds will cause Ajax major problems.
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