High-flyers Ajax and FC Utrecht will face off in their rescheduled matchday five Eredivisie fixture this week at the Johan Cruijff Arena on Wednesday night.
This is a crucial match in the chasing pack behind PSV Eindhoven at the top of the table, with these two sides currently separated by just a single point.
Match preview
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Ajax bounced back from their midweek defeat to Real Sociedad in the Europa League with a victory over NEC at the weekend, which saw them leapfrog their upcoming opponents into second place in the league standings.
While that was not a straightforward win for de Godenzonen on the road, having gone a goal down inside the first 15 minutes, they showed their powers of recovery to claim a 2-1 comeback win, thanks to a brace by Wout Weghorst.
That result has now taken Francesco Farioli's side to a record of 11 league games unbeaten (W9 D2 L0), while the new boss has still only tased one top-flight defeat since taking charge of the club at the start of the season.
Notably, Ajax have now also scored two or more goals in each of their last five league games, and have only failed to do so in three of their 13 league matches in 2024-25.
The hosts have been flawless at the Johan Cruijff Arena this season, winning all of their six matches to date, while they also beat this opponent 2-0 at this venue when they met last season.
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Meanwhile, Utrecht have also been enjoying an impressive run of form this season, but they were given a harsh reality check over the weekend when they were hammered 5-2 at home by PSV.
Utreg were faring well in that contest and went into the break level at 1-1, but the Red and Whites smashed in three goals in the space of 20 minutes after the restart and were already out of sight before Siebe Horemans netted a late consolation.
That result also took the team's goals-against tally to 17 for the season, which is the most of any of the top six teams in the division, and the third-most in the top half of the table so far.
Still, that defeat was only the second one that Ron Jans's side have conceded this season - neither of which were on the road - with the side currently riding a five-match away winning streak and unbeaten in their last nine dating back to the end of March.
Team News
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Brian Brobbey and Mika Godts both missed the weekend's victory over NEC which allowed Weghorst to start the match, and given his performance, he will likely lead the line again in midweek.
As far as absentees for the hosts go, Gaston Avila remains sidelined having undergone knee surgery, while Sivert Mannsverk and Amourricho Van Axel-Dongen are still recovering from ankle injuries.
Utrecht are likely to be without four players for this match, including their young goalkeeper Kevin Gadellaam, who also underwent knee surgery this year and is out for the foreseeable future.
Alonzo Engwanda and Kolbeinn Finnsson have missed the last nine and three games respectively due to injury and are not expected back this year, while Can Bozdogan (ankle) is flagged as a major doubt.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Rensch, Sutalo, Kaplan, Hato; Van den Boomen, Klaassen, Taylor; Hlynsson, Weghorst, Berghuis
FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Barkas; Horemans, Didden, Viergever, El Karouani; Fraulo, Jensen, Aaronson; Rodriguez, Descotte, Cathline
We say: Ajax 2-1 FC Utrecht
While Utrecht are enjoying a very impressive run of form this season, Ajax have yet to drop a point at home, both domestically and in Europe, and we feel the hosts will be able to keep that record intact with another win in midweek.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
