After suffering the very rare occurrence of back-to-back defeats, Ajax will enter a very important fortnight with a home match against Go Ahead Eagles in the Eredivisie on Saturday.
Following their defeat at Anfield in the Champions League, Ajax lost away in Alkmaar to AZ to surrender top spot in the league to rivals PSV Eindhoven before the international break.
Match preview
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Every defeat Ajax suffer usually triggers a mini-crisis, considering how close PSV push them domestically, and how damaging it can be to their chances in the Champions League.
However, the two Alfred Schreuder's side suffered before the international break were particularly demoralising, given the nature of a very late defeat against Liverpool and a very under-par showing against AZ a few days later.
One shining light from those matches though, has been the performances of Mohammed Kudus, who very nearly left to join Everton late in the transfer window.
The Ghanaian has scored six in his last five matches for Ajax, including two superb strikes in Europe against Rangers and Liverpool, an incredible upturn for a man who had scored just five goals in his first two years at the club.
With two huge head-to-heads coming up against Napoli, Ajax will hope their next four domestic fixtures in and around those matches, all of which are against sides expected to finish in the bottom half, can be navigated safely and comfortably.
However, Ajax failed to beat their next opponents Go Ahead Eagles last season, drawing this fixture 0-0 and losing 2-1 at The Eagle's Nest, despite winning all 16 of their previous encounters, scoring 56 goals.
Those surprise points turned out to be pivotal in the Eagles surviving the drop by two points in their first season back in the Eredivisie since relegation in 2016-17.
They could really do with picking up some more against the Amsterdam giants this time around too, after a woeful start saw them lose their opening five matches.
Luckily for them though, their final two games before the international break were against the two recently promoted sides, Volendam and Emmen, both of whom were in crisis themselves following some damaging, high-scoring defeats.
A thrilling 3-2 victory firstly away at Volendam set them up nicely for their home tie with Emmen, which they won comfortably 2-0, recording their first clean sheet since early April.
Those results lifted them off the bottom of the table and into 13th, but they will need to kick on and improve against higher quality opponents if they are to stay away from trouble.
They are helped by the fact they are a very competent goalscoring outfit, as only Waalwijk have scored more goals than them out of all the teams outside the top five.
GAE scored three against Feyenoord and two against PSV despite losing those games, but while they may be well-equipped in attack, that does show their defensive deficiencies very clearly.
Team News
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Despite having a crucial Champions League game on the horizon, Schreuder is unlikely to make wholesale changes to his starting XI if his team selections so far this season are anything to go by.
Davy Klaassen is one man who is often given a chance from the start domestically though, and Steven Berghuis is usually the player to make way out of the regular starters.
Brian Brobbey has seen his first-team opportunities become more limited given the form of Kudus in recent weeks, but he is a useful option off the bench.
However, recent acquisition Owen Wijndal could stake his claim for a place in the side to replace one of the back four who have been virtually unchanged all season.
For Go Ahead Eagles, there is good competition in the side to replace the injured Enric Llansana, who was an early casualty in their success over Volendam three weeks ago.
Icelandic midfielder Willum Thor Willumsson started in his place against Emmen, but some tactical adjustments could see ex-Sheffield Wednesday man Sylla Sow given a first start since joining late in the summer window instead.
Jamal Amofa replaced Justin Bakker in the centre of defence at half time against Volendam and kept his place for the win last time out too, so an unchanged back four is to be expected following a well-earned clean sheet.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Rensch, Timber, Bassey, Blind; Alvarez, Klaassen, Taylor; Tadic, Bergwijn, Kudus
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Lange; Deijl, Amofa, Idzes, Kuipers; Willumsson, Linthorst, Rommens, Edvardsen; Adekanye, Lidberg
We say: Ajax 5-1 Go Ahead Eagles
The gulf in class and stature between the two sides will surely show on the scoreline in this encounter, despite the two shock results between the sides last season.
Go Ahead Eagles have leaked more goals than most sides, and Ajax have already recorded 4-0, 5-0 and 6-1 wins in the league this season.
The visitors have proven they are a capable group in attack though, so breaching the Ajax defence may give them something to take away from the game.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
