Ajax welcome FC Utrecht to the Johan Cruyff ArenA on Sunday aiming to pick up a fifth consecutive home win across all competitions this term.
On the other hand, the away side are looking to record a third victory on the bounce and move within two points of the current league leaders.
Match preview
© Reuters
Ajax maintained their perfect start in the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Turkish giants Besiktas on Tuesday when the teams locked horns.
First-half goals from in-form Sebastien Haller and new recruit Steven Berghuis secured all three points for Erik ten Hag's men in Amsterdam.
De Godenzonen have also flown out of the blocks domestically with 19 points from their first seven outings and currently lead the way at the top of the table.
Their next task sees them play host to a Utrecht side who they have beaten in seven of the last 10 meetings between the teams on home turf.
However, Sunday's hosts were forced to settle for a share of the spoils in the most recent encounter six months ago which ended all square.
Utrecht made it back to back wins in the space of three days with an emphatic 5-1 victory over PEC Zwolle at the Stadion Galgenwaard on Saturday.
Anastasios Douvikas, Moussa Sylla, Bart Ramselaar, Mimoun Mahi and Willem Janssen were all on target for Rene Hake's men who were no match for their opponents on the day.
Having picked up seven of the last nine points available since a 2-1 loss to Twente, the Domstedelingen are currently in fifth place on the log.
Now faced with what is arguably their toughest challenge so far, Sunday's visitors will need to be at their best if they are to stand any chance of avoiding defeat.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Utrecht's Simon Gustafson has not featured since he was hauled off with an injury less than 20 minutes into his side's game versus Waalwijk a fortnight ago.
The away side are a bit light at the back with defenders Christopher Mamengi, Tommy St Jago and Reda Akmum all ruled out with knee injuries.
Off the back of two consecutive appearances off the bench, Dutch midfielder Davy Klaassen could be handed his first start after a brief spell out of action due to a groin injury.
Maarten Stekelenburg and Sean Klaiber both miss out through muscle and knee injuries respectively, while Andre Onana is not eligible to participate yet.
Steven Berghuis has now been directly involved in 10 goals in his last six outings for Ajax, making him one to keep an eye on this weekend.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Mazraoui, Timber, Martinez, Blind; Alvarez, Gravenberch, Berghuis; Antony, Tadic, Haller
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Paes; Warmerdam, Janssen, Van der Hoorn, Van der Maarel; Maher, Timber, Ramselaar; Sylla, Douvikas, Boussaid
We say: Ajax 3-1 FC Utrecht
Ajax are seemingly unstoppable at the moment, and it is hard to envisage any other outcome in this one rather than a home victory. Utrecht are certainly capable of giving a good account of themselves, but we are tipping the defending champions to cruise to a comfortable victory.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Ajax win with a probability of 58.8%. A draw had a probability of 22.4% and a win for FC Utrecht had a probability of 18.75%.
The most likely scoreline for an Ajax win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.34%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.51%) and 2-1 (9.88%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.66%), while for a FC Utrecht win it was 0-1 (5.76%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 5.8% likelihood.
