Ajax eyes still on first prize

AFC Ajax will look to steal top spot in Group F as they host eliminated SK Slavia Praha in their final UEFA Cup group stage game of 2008/09, with section leaders Hamburger SV hosting second-placed Aston Villa FC on Matchday 5.

• Hamburg, Villa and Ajax are already sure of their UEFA Cup Round of 32 places, but with all three teams level on six points, the final round of games will decide who finishes where in the section - a crucial consideration for the draw for the next phase of the tournament.

• Group winners will be paired with third-placed sides from other UEFA Cup sections, while second-placed finishers will be drawn against one of the eight sides who finished third in the UEFA Champions League groups. The UEFA Cup group winners and runners-up will play the second leg at home.

• Goal difference, then goals scored and then number of goals scored away from home will be the crucial factors in deciding the positioning after the final whistle.

• Ajax and Slavia have met before, in a 2007/08 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie which the Amsterdam side would love to forget.

• Ajax lost the first leg 1-0 at the Amsterdam ArenA, with David Kalivoda's 75th-minute penalty downing Henk ten Cate's side.

• The teams for that game were:
Ajax: Maarten Stekelenburg, Urby Emanuelson, Gabri, Johnny Heitinga, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Jaap Stam, Thomas Vermaelen, Kennedy Bakircioglü, Dennis Rommedahl (Jeffrey Sarpong, 82), Jürgen Colin, Luis Suárez (Ismael Urzaiz, 72).
Slavia: Martin Vaniak, Petr Janda (Tijani Belaid, 86), David Kalivoda (Ladislav Volešák, 80), Matej Krajčík, Stanislav Vlček (Rogério Gaúcho, 90), Mickaël Tavares, Erich Brabec, Michal Švec, Zdeněk Šenkeřík, František Dřížďal, Marek Suchý.

• Slavia won 2-1 in the second leg in Prague, with Stanislav Vlček scoring twice for the home side either side of Luis Suárez's equaliser for Ajax.

• Ajax have played nine games against Czech sides in UEFA competition, with their record reading W2 D3 L4. At home their record is W2 D1 L1.

• Last season's two wins against Ajax are Slavia and coach Karel Jarolím's only previous games against Dutch opponents.

• Ajax coach Marco van Basten has only been involved in one tie against a Czech club as a player, playing in Ajax's epic 1984/85 UEFA Cup second round tie against TJ Bohemians CKD Praha. Ajax won 1-0 at home, but Bohemians prevailed by the same score over 90 minutes in the second leg. Ajax eventually won the tie 4-2 on penalties.

• Van Basten also faced the Czech Republic as a coach, with his Netherlands side winning 2-0 in a 2004 FIFA World Cup qualifier, but was on the losing side in his only game against Czechoslovakia as a player, with the Oranje losing 1-0 in a 1986 friendly.

• Slavia's Tunisian midfielder Tijani Belaid has some experience of Dutch football having spent time on loan at PSV Eindhoven in 2006/07, where he played alongside Ajax's Ismaïl Aissati.

• This is likely to be striker Tomáš Necid's last competitive game for Slavia. The gifted 19-year-old striker will join PFC CSKA Moskva in January, but will not be eligible to play for his new side in the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

• Ajax have won both of their UEFA Cup home games this season without conceding, but have won only five of their last ten European home games, drawing one and losing the other four.

• Slavia have drawn both of their UEFA Cup away games this season. They have not won away from home in Europe in seven games since beating Ajax in Amsterdam, with their record since reading W0 D4 L3.

• Slavia coach Karel Jarolím is serving a touchline ban, while Martin Vaniak is suspended following his dismissal on Matchday 4. Matej Krajčík and Tomáš Necid are within a booking of missing their next European game.

• The draw for the UEFA Cup Round of 32 (when teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other) and Round of 16 will be held at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon on Friday 19 December at 13.00CET.