Ajax follow Ten Hag blueprint to beat Liverpool as Schreuder looks to Man Utd boss for inspiration

• Former coach has beaten Reds this season
• Dutch giants heading to Anfield
• Champions League points up for grabs

WHAT HAPPENED? The Eredivisie title holders are due at Anfield on Tuesday for their second outing in the 2022-23 Champions League group stage. They saw Jurgen Klopp’s side crushed 4-1 by Napoli on matchday one, while a domestic defeat to arch-rivals Manchester United – which was masterminded by Ten Hag – offered Ajax an insight into how to tactically approach a meeting with Premier League heavyweights.

WHAT THEY SAID: Schreuder has said of looking for inspiration from a coach that Ajax know well: “I have looked at the United match and what they did. There are certain things they did that are applicable to us. You have to be good with the ball against these kinds of teams. You need to have guts and courage. Courage is key. If you have that, then you have a chance.

“I think Klopp is just going to ask the players to play in a defensive way better than they did last time. Managers admit if you haven’t played well. We expect to go into a storm. We are also good. We try to play our own game. You have to have courage and, if we can do that, we have a chance. If you don’t have it, it is going to be difficult, especially one on one.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Ajax enjoyed a convincing victory in their first European outing of the season, as they crushed Rangers 4-0 in Amsterdam.

AND WHAT'S MORE: Liverpool will provide a much bigger test, particularly on home soil, but Dutch giants will believe that they are capable of finding a way out of Group A and into the knockout rounds.

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WHAT NEXT? Ajax have won all seven of their games so far in 2022-23, with their last five games across all competitions seeing them score 16 goals without reply.