Defending champions Ajax will be seeking to close the gap at the top of the Eredivisie when they host FC Twente at the Johan Cruyff ArenA on Saturday.
The hosts could only manage a draw with NEC Nijmegen in their return to league proceedings last weekend, while the visitors ran out 2-0 winners against FC Emmen, so they will be looking to make it back-to-back victories here.
Match preview
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Ajax's return to Eredivisie action did not go as planned last weekend, as they drew 1-1 with NEC Nijmegen after Davy Klaassen's opener was cancelled out by Landry Dimata's second-half strike.
That result means that Ajax remain in second place in the standings, three points behind league leaders Feyenoord, with a pivotal clash at Feyenoord Stadium on the horizon on January 22.
Despite last weekend's draw, Alfred Schreuder's side do come into this clash fresh off the back of a victory after a comfortable 2-0 win against Den Bosch on Wednesday evening, in the second round of the KNVB-Beker.
Goals from Dusan Tadic and Kenneth Taylor ensured that Ajax advanced to the next round without any problems as their opponents could only muster one shot on target.
Schreuder will believe his team can get a positive result here against an FC Twente side who have performed much better in front of their home fans than they have on the road. In fact, Twente have the best home record in the division, but have only managed to pick up eight points from the seven games they have played away from home.
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FC Twente's 2023 could not have started any better, picking up two wins from as many games so far.
Last time out, Ron Jans's side enjoyed a 3-1 victory over Telstar in the KNVB-Beker second round, thanks to a brace from Daan Rots and a strike from Virgil Misidjan.
Prior to that, Twente marked their return to league action with a 2-0 triumph against FC Emmen, after Ricky van Wolfswinkel broke the deadlock in the opening five minutes before Michal Sadilek added a second goal in the second half.
Jans's men are now unbeaten in their last six Eredivisie outings, with their last loss being the 2-0 defeat away at Feyenoord back on October 9.
That result ensured that the Tukkers' unbeaten home record remains intact for now, and they currently sit in fourth place in the table, one point behind PSV Eindhoven and their opponents this weekend.
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Team News
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Following the departure of Daley Blind, Owen Wijndal is expected to retain his place at left-back for the hosts, while Brian Brobbey could be handed a starting role after he did not feature in the victory over Den Bosch.
New arrival Geronimo Rulli made his debut in the KNVB-Beker clash, so he could be handed his first league start on Saturday.
Wout Brama is unavailable for Twente due to an ankle injury, while Christos Tzolis remains a doubt as he continues to recover from a knee injury.
The away side are also set to be without the services of Dimitrios Limnios and Joshua Brenet, who are nursing ACL and muscle injuries respectively.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Wijndal, Bassey, Timber, Sanchez; Taylor, Alvarez, Klaassen; Bergwijn, Brobbey, Tadic
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Smal, Propper, Hilgers, Everink; Sadilek, Zerrouki; Misidjan, Steijn, Cerny; Van Wolfswinkel
We say: Ajax 2-1 FC Twente
Ajax put five goals past Twente in this fixture last season, but Twente have conceded the fewest goals in the division so far this term with nine, while also keeping the most clean sheets, suggesting that they will be hard to break down this weekend.
However, the hosts have have scored the most goals in the league, so we think they will have the firepower to edge this encounter and claim all three points here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
