Arguably the standout fixture of matchday two in the Conference League, Ajax and Atalanta do battle at the Johan Cruyff Arena in the league phase of Europe's third-tier club competition.

The Amsterdam giants were beaten 2-1 by Hajduk Split last week, while La Dea secured a comfortable 3-1 success over Pafos, leaving them among 14 teams to have collected maximum points on the opening matchday.

Match preview

Just as eyebrows were beginning to be raised over Ajax, Michel's men struck five times against Groningen at Euroborg last weekend to secure a 5-2 victory.

The triumph over their in-form hosts ended the home side's four-match unbeaten run at a ground where De Joden had failed to win on their previous two visits, with further uncertainty surrounding the Dutch giants due to their form before kick-off.

The Amsterdam outfit entered the fixture on the back of a 2-1 loss to Hajduk last Thursday, meaning that they had gone three matches without winning since the back end of last season, when they drew 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven, lost 2-1 to FC Utrecht and were held by Heerenveen to close out the campaign.

Julian Brandt and Jorthy Mokio were the key figures in the 5-2 victory, with both players netting braces for Michel's team, who now aim to record back-to-back wins for De Joden and avoid falling further behind.

While there is sufficient time on paper to recover from losing in Croatia about a week ago, another failure to beat one of the competition's more formidable sides would undeniably leave the 25th-placed team sweating over their long-term Conference League prospects.

Atalanta have no such concerns for the time being, having negotiated their opening-matchday test against Pafos with minimal fuss.

Giacomo Raspadori wreaked havoc during the opening 21 minutes before departing with a muscle injury that kept the former Napoli forward out of Sunday's 3-2 loss to AC Milan.

The defeat at San Siro ended the Bergamaschi's seven-match unbeaten streak against the Rossoneri, who raced into a three-goal lead before Maurizio Sarri's men mounted a late fightback.

Regardless of how the loss was perceived, falling three goals behind without resistance was disappointing, even if some will have appreciated the effort shown to threaten a dramatic comeback.

However, the defeat in Milan also halted the momentum generated by consecutive post-international break victories over Venezia and Pafos following three losses before the pause.

Ajax Conference League form:

Ajax form (all competitions):

Atalanta BC Conference League form:

Atalanta BC form (all competitions):

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Brandt notably benefitted from a positional and tactical change against Groningen, with the former Borussia Dortmund player deployed in the No. 10 role behind Marcos Leonardo.

The 23-year-old Brazilian deputised for Tolu Arokodare, who is set to remain De Joden's starting No. 9 for the foreseeable future due to Kasper Dolberg's long-term knee injury.

Dolberg joins Simon Adingra, Anton Gaaei, Steven Berghuis, Caio Henrique and Daley Blind on the sidelines, while Yves Bissouma is not part of the Conference League squad.

Apart from the injured Raspadori, Sarri is without Isak Hien and Odilon Kossounou, while the visitors will assess Franck Kessie, Sead Kolasinac, Giorgio Scalvini and Kamaldeen Sulemana.

Nikola Krstovic leads Atalanta's scoring charts in Serie A, but the forward is likely to drop out of the XI, with Gianluca Scamacca drafted in to spearhead the attack and Charles De Ketelaere deployed in the hole.

Ajax possible starting lineup:

Ter Stegen; Kehrer, Bouman, Baas, Wijndal; Mokio, Amrabat; Tsygankov, Brandt, Gloukh; Arokodare

Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:

Carnesecchi; Zappacosta, Kristensen, Obric, Bernasconi; Pasalic, Ederson; Elmas, De Ketelaere, Zalewski; Scamacca

We say: Ajax 2-1 Atalanta BC

Ajax's emphatic weekend victory arrived at an ideal time, and returning to Amsterdam should further strengthen their belief as they seek to respond to last week's Conference League setback.

Atalanta will pose a considerably greater threat than Groningen, but their slow start against Milan and several fitness concerns could allow De Joden to edge a closely fought encounter.

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