Two sides with contrasting Eredivisie ambitions for the season will meet this weekend when Ajax play host to Almere City Johan Cruijff Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts will be looking to bounce back from defeat in Europe in midweek, while the visitors are in freefall right now, rooted to the bottom of the league table.
Match preview
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Ajax enter matchday 16 of the Eredivisie season off the back of a tough week, in which they suffered back-to-back defeats, first to AZ Alkmaar 2-1 in the top flight before a 3-1 loss to Lazio in the Europa League four days later.
The loss to AZ saw de Godenzonen also forced to give up second place in the league standings to Utrecht, while the defeat to the Eagles saw them slip to 11th place in the League Phase table in Europe.
Having also drawn 2-2 with Utreg and lost to Real Sociedad in the last three weeks, Francesco Farioli's side have now won just one of their last five matches across all competitions, which is a significant drop-off after a run of 16 matches unbeaten since mid-August.
However, the hosts do still possess the second-best home record in the league this season, having taken 19 points from a possible 21, with that draw against Utrecht being the only match in which they have failed to take all three points.
When these sides last met, Ajax cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory at this venue in May but were held to a 2-2 draw by this opponent at Yanmar Stadion last November.
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Meanwhile, after surviving their first season in the top flight with 34 points, Almere City are now the bookmakers' clear favourite to suffer the drop this term, having only managed six points after 15 games.
De Zwarte Schapen suffered their 11th defeat of the season last weekend, 3-1 at home to Utrecht, and are now riding a five-match losing streak dating back to the start of November when they were beaten by RKC Waalkwijk and dropped to the foot of the table.
Hedwiges Maduro's side are now just three defeats short of the 14 they conceded across the entire last season, and with eight points already separating the team from safety, they are at serious risk of being cut adrift before Christmas.
Unfortunately for Almere, there is very little to suggest a swift turnaround can be expected, as they have already shipped 34 goals this season, while only managing to find the back of the net seven times to date, two of which were own-goals.
The visitors have managed only two points in seven away games this season and failed to score in six of those matches, including each of the last three leading up to this one.
Team News
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Jordan Henderson returned to the starting lineup for Ajax in midweek and should retain his spot this weekend as the deepest-lying midfielder in front of centre-backs Josip Sutalo and Youri Baas.
The hosts are likely to be without at least four players due to injury, though, including Gaston Avila (knee), Amourricho Van Axel-Dongen (ankle), Sivert Mannsverk (ankle) and Benjamin Tahirovic (concussion).
Wout Weghorst came off the bench against Lazio and will likely be given the nod ahead of Brian Brobbey in attack, while Chuba Akpom could replace Mika Godts, who has only just returned from a spell on the sidelines.
For the visitors, James Lawrence was withdrawn at the interval for Christopher Mamengi in the defeat to Utrecht last weekend, and the latter will likely start this match alongside Joey Jacobs in central defence.
In terms of absentees, Almere City will have to make do without the services of midfielder Alex Carbonell and forward Baptiste Guillaume, both of whom are ruled out for the rest of the year with injuries.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Gaaei, Sutalo, Baas, Hato; Van den Boomen, Henderson, Taylor; Akpom, Weghorst, Berghuis
Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Akujobi, Jacobs, Mamengi, Zagaritis; Van de Kamp, Nalic, Tahiri; Providence, Robinet, Kadile
We say: Ajax 3-0 Almere City
Despite Ajax's slight dip in form this month, it is difficult to see them losing this match, against an Almere City that are winless on the road this season and have failed to score a single goal in their last three outings.
The hosts have already notched up seven wins in eight at the Johan Cruijff Arena this term and we feel they will add another three points to that tally in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
