Five things we learned from Ajax’s 1-1 draw with Wolves

Ajax held on to a 1-1 draw with Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers as part of their visit to England.

Donny van de Beek opened the scoring for the visitors just before half time with some classy footwork before a Ruben Neves penalty in the second half confirmed a draw

Read the full match report here.

Daley Blind has excellent passing range

Blind was signed to hopefully partner Matthijs de Ligt at the back, but the centre back proved that he can more than just shore up the back line.

The 28-year-old had some exceptional passing range that unlocked the Wolves defence a few times.

This passing range could serve as a handy weapon from the back all season, with Dolberg and Huntelaar hopefully latching onto the end of these balls.

Is Huntelaar’s age catching up with him?

No one can question the quality that Klaas Jan Huntelaar has shown in front of goal throughout his career, but the 34-year-olds age seems to be catching up with him.

The forward was struggling to latch onto balls over the top to him and seemed less ambitious when reaching out for balls through to him.

Willy Boly seemed to beat Huntelaar to everything in the air as well, forcing Ajax to stop using him as an outlet after half-an-hour.

Now this could be put down to a bit of pre-season rust, but it’s certainly an area that could be a cause for concern with a crucial Champions League game against Sturm Graz on the horizon.

Hakim Ziyech is injured

Ajax announced on twitter that Hakim Ziyech was not involved in either of the games in England due to an injury.

This could leave him a doubt for the game with Sturm Graz on Wednesday, despite it only being described as a small knock.

With Ajax having difficulties in front of goal all season, the Moroccan could prove a huge loss for this vital Champions League qualifier.

The future is bright with Eiting and Lang

Erik ten Hag chose to play a number of younger players who played for Jong Ajax last season across both games.

But the stars of the game against Wolves were winger Noa Lang and defensive midfielder Carel Eiting.

Lang offered great width for Ajax and is one of the few none inverted wingers for the club, his great wing play saw him get an assist as he played a great ball through for Donny van de Beek’s opener.

Eiting showed a great passing range throughout the game and seemed to silence the impending threat of Diogo Jota in the first half. His consistent positive play and fast paced thinking was a key for Ajax.

Ajax aren’t strong in the goalkeeping department

Both Andre Onana and Kostas Lamprou made mistakes during their games in England and were certainly a cause for concern.

Onana did make some good saves throughout the game, but a cross that slipped straight through his hands almost gifted Wolves an open goal.

Whilst Lamprou struggled to judge the length on crosses throughout the game with Walsall and struggled to keep a hold of any shots at him.

Ajax announced the change in shirt numbers on the day of the game, with Onana parting with the number 1 jersey, could this be to open the number up for an incoming goalkeeper?