Ajax make the trip to Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday afternoon in desperate need of a victory to remain in the hunt for fourth position in the Eredivisie standings.
At a time when the visitors sit six points adrift of that spot, Sparta are down in 11th place and with a fight on their hands to make the European playoffs.
Match preview
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When Ajax followed a 2-0 win over FC Utrecht with a goalless draw with Aston Villa in the first leg of their Europa Conference League last-16 tie, John van't Schip must have felt that his team were heading in the right direction.
Since then, though, Ajax have scrambled to a 2-2 draw at home to Fortuna Sittard and been comprehensively outplayed by Villa in the return leg in England.
Ajax barely laid a glove on their Premier League opponents and were deservedly on the receiving end of a 4-0 scoreline, ending their hopes of silverware for 2023-24.
The focus now turns to trying to achieve a fourth-placed finish in the Eredivisie, with a 13-point gap to Twente in third position realistically out of reach with just nine matches remaining.
Although Ajax still have games to come against Feyenoord and Twente where they can impact on their own future, there is a realisation that a rebuild must take place in the summer if they are to avoid several years in the wilderness behind PSV Eindhoven and the former.
From the perspective of Sparta, they will be disappointed that they have not been able to maintain a push for the top five having significantly dropped off the pace in recent months.
After a solid start to the season, Sparta have since only won three times in 13 games in all competitions since the beginning of December.
More recently, one victory has been posted in eight outings - a 4-2 triumph over 15th-placed Excelsior - although positives can be taken from their last two performances.
On the back of a 1-1 draw with fourth-placed AZ Alkmaar, Jeroen Rijsdijk's side only went down 2-1 at third-placed Twente, perhaps an indication that they could match Ajax all the way in this contest.
Team News
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Rijsdijk may tinker with his Sparta side for this game, with Charles-Andreas Brym potentially being brought into the team on the right flank.
Tijs Velthuis is also an option at centre-back, with Shunsuke Mito and Mike Eerdhuijzen the players who may drop out of the side.
Van't Schip will likely make at least two changes to his Ajax XI with Ahmetcan Kaplan and Devyne Rensch both sustaining injuries during the Villa game.
That could lead to a change in formation, with Tristan Gooijer in line to return at right-back having missed the Villa game through suspension.
Carlos Forbs and Chuba Akpom may also come back into the fold in what may be a 4-3-3 formation, as opposed to a 3-4-3 with an overload of centrally-equipped players.
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Olij; Bakari, Meissen, Eerdhuijzen, Van der Kust; Clement, De Guzman, Verschueren; Mito, Lauritsen, Saito
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Ramaj; Gooijer, Sutalo, Hato, Sosa; Mannsverk, Henderson, Taylor; Akpom, Brobbey, Forbs
We say: Sparta Rotterdam 2-3 Ajax
Having watched the manner of Ajax's performance against Villa, Sparta will fancy their chances of inflicting more misery on the fallen giants. However, Van't Schip may now realise that their recent switch in formation is not sustainable, and we are expecting Ajax to get back on track with a thrilling win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
