The biggest game of the Eredivisie season so far takes place on Sunday with league leaders Ajax hosting champions PSV Eindhoven at the Amsterdam Arena.
- By Michael Bell
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Ajax have been almost unstoppable in the league so far this season with six wins out of seven matches and no defeats, but they face their biggest challenge yet when champions, and fierce rivals, PSV come to Eindhoven.
Phillip Cocu’s side currently sit 4th and five points behind Ajax after a poor start to their campaign, and they head to Amsterdam knowing a defeat could be hard to recover from in their attempts to retain their title.
Both teams go into the game on the back of disappointing European results with PSV going down 3-2 in Moscow to CSKA Moscow, while Ajax missed guilt edged chances in a 1-1 draw against Norwegian champions Molde.
Team News
Ajax boss Frank de Boer only has one injury concern going into the game with striker Yaya Sanogo out of the squad through injury. De Boer needs to decide who lines up on the wings after Anwar El Ghazi’s poor performance in Norway meaning Amin Younes could be given a chance.
Possible Ajax line-up: Cillessen, Tete, Dijks, Riedewald, Veltman, Bazoer, Gudelj, Klaassen, El Ghazi, Fischer, Milik
There was great news for PSV this week as influential midfielder Andres Guardado returned to training after making a rapid recovery from an ankle injury. However captain and striker Luuk de Jong is out, while long term absentee’s Jetro Willems and Florian Jozefzoon won’t feature.
Possible PSV line-up: Zoet, Arias, Brenet, Bruma, Moreno, Guardado, Propper, Maher, Narsingh, Lestienne, Locadia
Head to Head
Since 1930 there has been 129 meetings between the two sides with Ajax edging it with 56 wins to PSV’s 51. In the Eredivisie PSV have the advantage with 49 wins to Ajax’s 46.
Last season in this tie Ajax were leading 1-0 at half time through Anwar El Ghazi but PSV turned the game around in the second half, with Memphis Depay, Luciano Narsingh and Florian Jozefzoon netting in a 3-1 win for the Eindhoven side. Ajax got revenge in Eindhoven though as they beat PSV 3-1.
Ajax have lost only one of the last five matches between the two clubs at the Amsterdam Arena.
Key Battles
Riechedly Bazoer v Andres Guardado
Bazoer showed why he is regarded as one of Netherlands biggest talents last week in the 2-0 win over Groningen last week as the 18-year-old completely controlled the midfield for Ajax, shutting down Groningen all over the pitch whilst also being excellent in possession. On Sunday he will come up against PSV’s metronome Andres Guardado who has been sorely missed in the PSV line-up over the past two weeks. Guardado will look to keep PSV ticking on the ball and if he isn’t stopped by Bazoer then PSV could find joy in Amsterdam.
Santiago Arias v Viktor Fischer
Arias was given a torrid time in Moscow during the week and headed for an early bath after receiving two yellow cards. On Sunday he will come up against an in-form Fischer, who has netted three times in his last four games. The Danish winger has been Ajax’s main threat in their last few matches, and if Arias continues to be ill-disciplined then Fischer could be the key to victory for the Amsterdam club.
Key info
Kick off time: 1.30pm BST
Where can you watch it? Sky Sports 3 will show the game live, while it can also be streamed through BET 365’s website.
Current Odds: Ajax 1/1, Draw 13/5, PSV 5/2
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