Having both crashed out of this season's Champions League in the qualifying rounds, both Ajax and Celtic will be hoping to have a strong campaign in the Europa League to make amends for these disappointing exits.
Ajax, despite entering at the same stage, made it only as far as the third qualifying round in this year's Champions League, falling to a 5-4 aggregate defeat against Austrian outfit Rapid Wien after being held to a 2-2 draw in their home leg.
Celtic, on the other hand, made it through two rounds before crashing out, narrowly beating Azerbaijan's Qarabağ 1-0 following the 6-1 thrashing of Stjarnan of Iceland, before Malmö FF were their eventual conquerors at the final play-off stage, winning 4-3.
Previous meetings
These two have met five times before, their most recent meetings coming back in 2013 in the Champions League group stages. They enjoyed a victory apiece that season, both sides winning their home games in Group H.
The Dutch outfit travelled to Scotland first, with the hosts winning 2-1 thanks to goals from James Forrest and Beram Kayal, and these three points would go on to be the only ones they claimed in the competition that year as they finished bottom of the group.
Ajax, on the other hand, totted up eight points that season, which earned them a third placed finish, behind Barcelona and AC Milan, and a place in the Europa League knockout stages. Lasse Schöne, who scored the late consolation in the 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park, scored the only goal of the game at the Amsterdam Arena in the return fixture, with Ajax running out 1-0 winners.
Their first meeting occurred back in the 2001-02 edition of the Champions League, albeit this time in the qualifying round. Celtic were victorious on aggregate by a 3-2 scoreline, but both recorded wins in the individual games, both away from home too.
Ajax hosted the first leg, but lost 3-1 to the Scottish outfit, Dutchman Bobby Petta, who enjoyed a stint with Bradford City four seasons later, opened the scoring for Celtic, with Didier Agathe and Chris Sutton adding to this lead, whilst the current Trabzonspor manager, Shota Arveladze, bagged Ajax's only goal of the game.
Ajax did win the return leg 1-0, courtesy of Wamberto's 30th minute strike, but it was not enough to rescue the tie as they crashed out of the competition.
The only other time these two have crossed paths was back in the summer of 2012 in a pre-season friendly - Siem De Jong, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, Thulani Serero and Daley Blind all on the scoresheet as the Dutch outfit comfortably ran out 4-0 victors.
Current form
Despite dominant starts to their domestic campaigns, neither side, somewhat surprisingly, come into this fixture off the back of a victory.
Ajax's season kicked off in the second week of August, and, in the league, they have registered an impressive four wins since. They opened their campaign with a dominant 3-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar, whilst similarly comfortable wins over Willem II, NEC and ADO Den Haag followed - nine goals scored with none in reply.
However, they conceded their first goals at the weekend, whilst dropping their first points too, in a 2-2 draw with FC Twente. They were in fact two goals down against their opponents, but strikes from Viktor Fischer and a penalty from Nemaja Gudelj rescued a late point for them.
As for Celtic, they have taken 16 points from an available 21 so far this season, winning five, drawing one and losing one of their seven Scottish Premiership fixtures.
That one loss came on Saturday afternoon, with the reigning champions travelling to Aberdeen and returning home with nothing after a 2-1 defeat. Leigh Griffiths opened the scoring for the visitors from the spot, but goals from Adam Rooney and a late winner courtesy of Paul Quinn helped the home side record an unlikely upset.
Key players
There will be plenty of stars on show for Ajax on Thursday who are products of the Dutch outfit's phenomenal youth system, but the most in-form one right now is Anwar El-Ghazi. The 20-year-old winger is simply unstoppable in front of goal at the moment, having found the back of the net six times in five league games already, and his side will look to play him in behind Celtic's defence as much as possible.
Oozing confidence that makes his clinical touch all that bit more devastating, El-Ghazi will have a telling say in the outcome of this match and his team will look to him to bring a bit of magic to the encounter.
There are a number of other creative players for Ajax who will pose problems for the Scottish champions too, the likes of Schöne and Davy Klaassen, who share four assists between them from the first five games in the Eredivisie, but one man who will be key at the other end is Jasper Cillessen.
The Dutch 'keeper has conceded just two goals so far this season, and his fine shot-stopping abilities are just one of many reasons why compatriot Louis van Gaal's Manchester United were linked with a move for the 26-year-old this summer. He will be tasked with keeping players like Griffiths and Nadir Çiftçi at bay on Thursday, but is more than good enough to do the job.
For Celtic, their key men also lie in the more advanced positions, with Griffiths one of them having bagged six goals in seven games this season. However, Çiftçi is likely to be the bigger threat, the former Dundee United man keen to play having sat most of the new campaign out thus far through suspension.
This expired at the weekend, but he still only played a small role off the bench, and has relished European football so far this season due to it being his only opportunity to get on the pitch. Rested on Saturday and ready to go on Thursday, the Turkish striker will be a nuisance for Ajax's defence as he searches for his first Celtic goal.
At the back, the Scots will look to summer signing Dedryk Boyata for some defensive steel following the departure of Virgil van Dijk on deadline day. The Manchester City youth product settled in nicely along the now-Southampton man, but has seen this partnership disrupted and is now looking to form a new one with Manchester United loanee Tyler Blackett.
The two will need to gel quickly if they are to ensure Celtic's back line stays strong, and if they fail to work together well on Thursday, the likes of El-Ghazi and Klaassen will happily punish them.
Prediction
It's a tough match to call, with both sides having got off to wonderful starts domestically, whilst they both carry great confidence as a result of this, and their various titles in recent seasons.
However, Ajax look to boast more talent in their ranks, especially going forward, whereas Celtic have struggled against opponents in Europe this season already who should have been more than straight-forward to beat.
With a home advantage too, the Dutch outfit will be favourites, but Celtic have risen to many occasions in the past to defy the odds, especially in Europe, and will be key to make up for another loss in Champions League qualifying with a good start in the Europa League.
Either way, it is sure to be an exciting affair between two clubs with such illustrious pasts and dominant domestic histories - particularly in recent times.