Real Sociedad are just outside the qualification places after winning one, drawing one and losing two of their four Europa League matches this season.

La Real kicked off their European campaign with a draw against Nice and a defeat to Anderlecht, before they recorded a much-needed victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv on matchday three.

Unfortunately for Real Sociedad, they failed to build upon that result in their most recent European outing against Viktoria Plzen, conceding in the 89th minute as they fell to a narrow 2-1 away loss.

Imanol Alguacil's side bounced back from that loss to defeat Barcelona and Jove Espanol in the league and Copa del Rey respectively, only for them to be stopped in their tracks by a 1-0 loss in Sunday's Basque derby against Athletic Bilbao, leaving them in an underwhelming 10th position in La Liga.

Real Sociedad will look to return to winning ways in their upcoming Europa League clash, but they have found it difficult to consistently pick up home wins this season, having won just two of their eight competitive matches at the Reale Arena (D1, L5).

After experiencing a difficult 2023-24 campaign, Ajax are enjoying better fortunes under the watch of Italian coach Francesco Farioli.

The former Nice boss has seen his side put together a 16-game unbeaten run in all competitions since they suffered their most recent defeat against NAC Breda on August 18.

Four of those 16 games have taken place in the Europa League main draw, with Farioli's side taking 10 points from their four matches to leave them three points clear of ninth place in the battle to secure automatic qualification for the last 16.

Ajax took four points from their opening two matches of the league phase, before they eased to 3-0 and 5-0 victories over Qarabag and Maccabi Tel Aviv respectively.

Having racked up 13 goals across their first four matchdays, Ajax will travel to Spain as the highest scorers in the league phase, and they will hope that firepower can guide them to a ninth victory in 10 competitive matches.