The final fixture of matchday 23 in the Eredivisie will come from the Johan Cruijff ArenA where Ajax will be playing host to Heracles on Sunday evening.
The hosts are on 51 points and took the lead in the league standings last weekend, while the visitors are in 14th place, seven points clear of the drop.
Match preview
© Imago
Ajax will come into this weekend's league match feeling very good about themselves, having taken a 2-0 lead in their Europa League playoff tie against Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday night.
De Godenzonen are certainly on an upward trajectory in the New Year, as they have won all four of their league games since the turn of the calendar and are now riding a six-match win streak dating back to mid-December.
Last weekend, Francesco Farioli's side delivered a solid performance to beat Fortuna Sittard on the road, and with that result, they overtook PSV in the league table, now at the summit of the standings for the first time this season.
The victory over Fortuna also marked the sixth consecutive match in which Ajax scored two or more goals, while they have only failed to do so in one of their last 13 league games, which was in a 2-1 defeat to AZ Alkmaar at the start of December.
The hosts have been near-perfect at home this season, dropping points only once in 10 league matches at the Johan Cruijff ArenA (W9 D1 L0), while the last time they were beaten at this venue in the top flight was in October 2023.
© Imago
Meanwhile, Heracles have also been enjoying a solid run of results of late and came from a goal down to beat an in-form Go Ahead Eagles 4-2 at home last weekend - their fifth league victory of the season.
Heraclieden have now taken nine points from their last five league matches (W2 D3 L0), which is a significant upturn in performance after only managing six points from their preceding 10 league fixtures.
Additionally, Erwin van de Looi's side have now scored in five consecutive top-flight matches (nine goals in total), having last achieved the same feat between early January and February last year.
However, despite their improvement, history suggests that the visitors are likely to struggle in this one, as they have failed to beat this opponent in any of their last seven encounters dating back to February 2020.
Team News
© Imago
After coming off the bench and scoring within 10 minutes against Fortuna Sittard, Wout Weghorst sustained a broken toe in the dying moments of the match and is now ruled out for the next six weeks.
The Dutch international will be joined on the sidelines this weekend by Jordan Henderson (hamstring), Branco van den Boomen (back) and Youri Regeer (ankle), while Owen Wijndal is flagged as a doubt.
Heracles have two injury absentees for this match in Nikolai Laursen (cruciate ligament) and Sava-Arangel Cestic (ankle), neither of whom are expected to return to the squad in the foreseeable future.
Luka Kulenovic has scored in two of his last three league starts and should continue to lead the line this week, while Thomas Bruns, Suf Podgoreanu and Juho Talvitie will provide the attacking support from midfield.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Gaaei, Sutalo, Baas, Hato; Fitz-Jim, Mokio, Taylor; Berghuis, Brobbey, Traore
Heracles possible starting lineup:
De Keijzer; Wieckhoff, Mirani, Mesik, Rots; Scheperman, De Keersmaecker; Talvitie, Bruns, Podgoreanu; Kulenovic
We say: Ajax 3-1 Heracles
While Heracles are enjoying their best run of form this season, Ajax have been sensational over the last couple of months and have not been beaten in a league game at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in well over a year.
With one eye on their Europa League second-leg playoff tie, the hosts are likely to make a few changes for this match, but we feel they will still be too good for the visitors in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
