All the important stats as Liverpool prepare to play Ajax

Liverpool take on AFC Ajax on Wednesday.

The Reds will kick off their Champions League campaign in midweek as they take on the Dutch champions.

This comes after draw in the Merseyside Derby, in which they lost talisman Virgil van Dijk to injury. This makes this fixture even more significant for the Reds.

Their opponents picked up a comfortable 5-1 win over Heerenveen this weekend, with former Premier League players Dusan Tadic and Davy Klaassen on the scoresheet.

The upcoming meeting at the Johan Cruyff ArenA is the first between the Reds and Ajax since 1966/67, where the Dutch outfit again won by five goals to one, and the second leg finished 2-2. That two legged tie was the only time they have met previously, which is strange considering the two have ten European Cups between them.

Since that 5-1 defeat, Liverpool have gone 13 games unbeaten against Dutch opponents, winning eight and drawing five.

This century the club has faced PSV Eindhoven four time (2007 CL Quarter Finals, 2008/09 CL group stages) – winning all four fixtures. The home match in the group stage is famous for featuring Steven Gerrard’s 100th goal for Liverpool.

The club’s most recent bout with Dutch opposition came in 2010, sharing two 0-0 draws with FC Utrecht under Roy Hodgson.

Ajax have gone winless in five of their last six matches (D2, L3) against English opposition – with their only victory coming against Tottenham in the Champions League Semi-Final first leg.

And the home side’s record at their ground is not to be desired, winning just one of the last seven matches in the Champions League at the Johan Cruyff Arena. Two of those defeats came to English opposition – the 3-2 defeat to Tottenham, and the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea last season.

Liverpool will be without Virgil van Dijk, Thiago and potentially Joel Matip for the tie, but bookies still make the six-time winners favourites at 4/7 – with Ajax coming in at 4/1.