Preview:Ajax vs. Vitesse - prediction, team news, lineups

Defending champions Ajax welcome Vitesse to the Johan Cruyff ArenA on Wednesday in their postponed fixture from round 12 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season.

Both teams were defeated in their respective last outings and will be looking to bounce back in next to no time by securing a positive result in Amsterdam.

Match preview

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Looking to extend their lead at the top of the table, Ajax came up short in Sunday's heavyweight meeting against PSV Eindhoven which ended in a narrow 2-1 defeat.

Goals in either half from Luuk de Jong and Erick Gutierrez left Alfred Schreuder's men with a mountain to climb before Lorenzo Lucca pulled one back to set up a frantic finale.

As a result, De Godenzonen have dropped to second in the league standings, two points adrift of PSV, albeit with a game in hand on last season's runners-up.

Up next is the challenge of an opposing side who have not come out on top in any of the last 10 encounters between the teams across all competitions.

Having lost three of their most recent four matches on home turf, Wednesday's hosts will be keen to put on a dominant display in front of their fans this time around.

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Vitesse were left red-faced in their last outing versus Sparta Rotterdam courtesy of a comprehensive 4-0 defeat at the GelreDome on Saturday.

Following a relatively uneventful first half, Tobias Lauritsen netted twice in the second half and was joined on the scoresheet by Sven Mijnans and Arno Verschueren to put Phillip Cocu's men to the sword.

Nonetheless, Geel en Zwart remain outside the relegation zone for the time being, although they are now just one point clear of the bottom three.

Currently with the second-best defensive record on the road this term, Wednesday's visitors have often had a platform to build upon away from home, but their attacking output has left a lot to be desired, with just five goals scored in as many matches.

Team News

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Ajax's Edson Alvarez picked up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out and the Mexican will serve a one-game suspension, ruling him out of Wednesday's contest.

Davy Klaassen and Kenneth Taylor are the favourites to come into the XI for the ineligible Alvarez, although Florian Grillitsch would be a more natural replacement.

Mohammed Ihattaren remains ruled out of contention for the home side having failed to feature since a preseason clash against Paderborn, where he scored twice.

Mitchell Dijks's wait for his Vitesse debut is set to go on further, as the 29-year-old defender continues to battle with a long-term knee injury.

Kjell Scherpen is set to sit out a fourth match in a row since the Dutchman came off with an injury against Cambuur just over three weeks ago.

Ajax possible starting lineup:

Pasveer; Blind, Bassey, Timber, Sanchez; Kudus, Taylor, Berghuis; Bergwijn, Brobbey, Tadic

Vitesse possible starting lineup:

Reiziger; Arcus, Meulensteen, Cornelisse, Wittek; Flamingo, Tronstad, Bero; Vidovic, Kozlowski, Van Duivenbooden

We say: Ajax 3-1 Vitesse

Ajax have hit a bump in the road of late, but as top teams always do, they will be expected to get themselves back on track. We are backing the hosts to cruise to all three points come the sound of the final whistle in this one.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.