Fresh off a 5-0 thrashing over NEC Nijmegen, Ajax take a trip to the Grolsch Veste Stadium to face FC Twente on Sunday.
The hosts suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Fortuna Sittard last time out and will be looking to bounce back from that performance.
FC Twente kicked off their Eredivisie campaign on the back pedal as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Fortuna Sittard last Saturday.
Twente threw away a one-goal lead as Mats Seuntjens and Toshio Lake scored to cancel out Ricky van Wolfswinkel’s opener and hand Fortuna a hard-earned opening day win.
Ron Jans’ men have now failed to pick up a win in their last five outings after claiming two draws and losing two of their four pre-season friendly fixtures.
Their last win came back on 16 May, when they beat ADO Den Haag 3-2 in the final game of the 2020-21 Eredivisie campaign.
Meanwhile, Ajax got their title defense underway in grand style as they claimed an emphatic 5-0 victory over newly promoted NEC Nijmegen in their Eredivisie curtain-raiser last Saturday.
In a thrilling contest at the Johan Cruijff Arena, Ajax handed the newcomers a baptism of fire as they scored all five goals in the opening 39 minutes of the game.
Prior to that, Ajax suffered a humbling 4-0 defeat against PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Super Cup two Saturdays ago.
Head coach Erik ten Hag will hope their superb opening-day victory can serve as a springboard as they aim to clinch their 36th league title.
Twente vs Ajax Head-To-Head
Ajax have been utterly dominant in the history of this fixture, claiming 25 wins from their previous 57 encounters. Twente have picked up 11 wins, while 11 games have ended all square.
Twente Form Guide (all competitions): D-D-L-L-L
Ajax Form Guide (all competitions): D-D-W-L-W
Twente vs Ajax Team News
Twente
The hosts will be without the services of Vaclav Cerny, Jody Lukoki and Kik Pierie, who have all been sidelined through injuries.
Injured: Vaclav Cerny, Jody Lukoki, Kik Pierie
Suspended: None
Ajax
Ajax will be without the services of Perr Schuurs and Sean Klaiber, who have been ruled out through injuries. Nicolas Tagliafico will also serve the second of his three-game suspension, while Andre Onana continues to serve his long-term suspension.
Injured: Perr Schuurs, Sean Klaiber
Suspended: Nicolas Tagliafico, Andre Onana
Twente vs Ajax Predicted XI
Twente Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Lars Unnerstall; Giovanni Troupee, Robin Pröpper, Jayden Oosterwolde, Gijs Smal; Ramiz Zerrouki, Jesse Bosch; Dimitris Limnios, Luka Ilić, Queensy Menig; Ricky van Wolfswinkel
Ajax Predicted XI (4-3-3): Maarten Stekelenburg; Noussair Mazraoui, Jurrien Timber, Daley Blind, Devyne Rensch; Ryan Gravenberch, Kenneth Taylor, Zakaria Labyad; Steven Berghuis, Sebastien Haller, Dusan Tadic
Twente vs Ajax Prediction
Ajax got their title defense off to a superb start last time out and will be in high spirits following that performance. They take on a struggling Twente side who have failed to pick up a win in their last five outings.
Looking at the gulf in class between the two sides, we are tipping Ajax to claim a comfortable win on Sunday.
Prediction: Twente 1-3 Ajax
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