The Eredivisie is set to resume this weekend, and on Saturday, we will see Ajax face off against a struggling RKC Waalwijk at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam.
These sides enter the New Year with contrasting ambitions, with the hosts looking to mount a challenge for the title while the visitors are aiming to avoid relegation.
Match preview
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Ajax shook off the festive season rust with a friendly against Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart last weekend, which allowed Francesco Farioli to give 22 players a run out following the two-week break.
De Godenzonen put together an excellent run of form across October and November last year, picking up six wins and a draw in seven matches, which saw them close the gap to league leaders PSV heading into December.
However, they were held to a 2-2 draw against Utrecht at the start of last month and lost to AZ Alkmaar a week later, which led to them giving up the ground they made up, slipping back to six points behind the defending champions.
Nevertheless, Farioli's side bounced back from those results with two impressive showings to end the year, beating Almere City 3-0 and Sparta Rotterdam 2-0, with Kenneth Taylor netting in both victories.
The hosts will undoubtedly be expecting to come away from this weekend's fixture with all three points, as they have yet to taste defeat in the league at the Johan Cruijff Arena this season (W7 D1 L0) and have scored two or more goals in six of those matches.
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Meanwhile, after barely escaping the drop last season, RKC Waalwijk are now the odds-on favourites to be relegated this term, having only managed seven points over the first half of the campaign.
Henk Fraser's side's last match ended in a disappointing 1-1 home draw against PEC Zwolle, marking their sixth consecutive league game without victory, dating back to their only win this season over Almere City at the start of November.
Notably, RKC have fared better than most of the teams in the bottom half of the table in attack this term with 18 goals, but their downfall has been their leaky defence, which has already shipped a massive 41 goals to date, just 15 fewer than they let in across the entire last season.
The visitors also found it very difficult on the road in 2024, earning just two points from eight away league games, while conceding two or more goals in all but one of those matches.
RKC were beaten 2-0 at home by this opponent in the reverse fixture in September, and have lost each of their last 12 top-flight matches against Ajax dating back to a goalless draw in October 2013.
Team News
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Chuba Akpom came off the bench to net the leveller in the friendly against Stuttgart last weekend and he should form part of the forward trio from the start in this match alongside Wout Weghorst and Taylor.
The hosts currently have four players sidelined due to injury, including long-term absentee Gaston Avila, along with Sivert Mannsverk (ankle), Amourricho Van Axel-Dongen (ankle) and Benjamin Tahirovic (concussion).
RKC, on the other hand, could be without five players for this match, with Yanick van Osch and Juan Familia-Castillo definitely ruled out due to injury, while Dario Van Den Buijs, Richard Van Der Venne and Daouda Weidmann are listed as doubts.
The one positive for the visitors over the closing stages of the first half of the season was the upturn in the form of forward Oskar Zawada, who scored four goals in his last three matches, and he will almost certainly lead the line this weekend.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Gaaei, Rugani, Baas, Rensch; Henderson, Klaassen, Hato; Taylor, Weghorst, Akpom
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Kesting; Al Mazyani, Van Eijma, Van Gelderen, Wouters; Oukili, Roemeratoe; Van der Water, Ihattaren, Margaret; Zawada
We say: Ajax 3-1 RKC Waalwijk
Despite dropping points during the run-in to the end of 2024, Ajax were excellent at home across the entire first half of the season. The hosts have dominated this fixture, winning each of the last 12 top-flight matches against RKC, and we feel they will secure another fairly comfortable victory this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
