The final curtain of the second round in the KNVB Beker will come from the Johan Cruijff Arena on Thursday night when Ajax will play host to Eerste Divisie outfit Telstar.
This match marks the second-ever meeting between these sides, with the previous encounter coming in this competition in 2019-20, which Ajax won 4-3 on the road.
Match preview
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Ajax will kick off the domestic cup competition feeling very good about themselves after moving back into the top two in the Eredivisie last week, leapfrogging Utrecht with a 3-0 victory over basement club Almere City.
Not only did that result allow de Godenzonen to move up a place in the standings, but it also saw them trim the gap to six points to league leaders PSV, who suffered a shock 1-0 away defeat to Heerenveen over the weekend.
Francesco Farioli will now get his first taste of the KNVB Beker, as his side, along with the likes of PSV, AZ and Feyenoord, were exempt from the first round due to their participation in European football.
Last season, Ajax were eliminated from this competition in this very round, following back-to-back final defeats against the Boeren in the two preceding campaigns since their title run in 2020-21.
Unsurprisingly, the hosts are massive favourites in this match given their excellent home record this season, having only suffered one defeat in 14 matches, while 12 of those games ended in victory.
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Meanwhile, Telstar are enjoying a progressive season in the Eerste Divisie, now up to 11th place in the league standings after securing a 3-0 victory over Helmond Sport at home last week.
Former Go Ahead Eagles forward Zakaria Eddahchouri scored a hat-trick in that victory, which took his tally for the season to 14, three clear at the top of the leading goal-scorer standings in the division.
That result also took the White Lions to 26 points at the halfway point in the league season, putting them well on course to surpass the 35-point tally they managed across the entire previous campaign.
However, Anthony Correia's side have struggled to find positive results on the road of late, currently on a three-match losing streak while managing just one victory in their last eight away games (W1 D3 L4).
Team News
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With a three-day turnaround to their league fixture against Sparta Rotterdam, Farioli will likely look to make a few changes for this match, which should see the likes of Brian Brobbey and Steven Berghuis brought back into the attack.
Anton Gaaei and Jorrel Hato were left out of the last match against Almere City and should feature in defence for this one, while Branco van den Boomen will likely replace one of Jordan Henderson or Davy Klaassen in midfield.
As for absentees, the hosts are without Gaston Avila, who is still on the road to recovery from knee surgery, while Sivert Mannsverk and Amourricho Van Axel-Dongen will only resume action in the New Year.
For the visitors, midfielder Tyrone Owusu was withdrawn before the half time break with a knock in the victory over Helmond Sport at the weekend and is flagged as a major doubt for this match.
If Owusu is unable to return in time for this fixture, Suriname international Jayden Turfkruier is the most likely to replace him alongside Nils Rossen and Guus Offerhaus in the engine room.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Gaaei, Sutalo, Baas, Hato; Van den Boomen, Klaassen, Taylor; Berghuis, Brobbey, Traore
Telstar possible starting lineup:
Koeman; Harde, Apau, Koswal, Bakker; Rossen, Offerhaus, Turfkruier; El Kachati, Eddahchouri, Hamdaoui
We say: Ajax 4-1 Telstar
While plenty of changes are expected by the hosts given the short turnaround to their next league game, we feel they will still have far too much firepower for their lower league opponents in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
