Nijmegenvs.Ajax

The hosts are on 19 points after 13 games and ninth in the league standings, while the visitors are firmly in the Champions League qualification battle, currently in third place with 29 points.

Match preview

After stumbling out the starting blocks this season, managing just seven points in their first eight games, NEC are starting to turn things around and are steadily climbing back up the league table.

Following the October international break, NEC have picked up three very impressive wins against Heerenveen, Groningen and RKC Waalwijk, scoring a combined tally of 12 goals in those matches while maintaining clean sheets in all of them.

Last weekend, they put up another impressive performance against high-flying Utrecht at home and looked as though they had earned a share of the spoils when Sontje Hansen cancelled out Yoann Cathline's early strike, but Victor Jensen got the visitors the winning goal halfway through the second period.

Still, there were plenty of positives for Rogier Meijer to take from his side's performance in that match, as they dominated almost every statistical category, most notably, maintaining 63% of the possession and registering almost double the attempts at goal as their opponents.

NEC will need to build on that performance here, though, as they set to face an opponent that they have failed to beat in their last 10 encounters, losing seven and drawing three, dating back to August 2015.

Meanwhile, at this same stage last season, Ajax had only managed 15 points and suffered five defeats, which saw them languishing in the bottom half of the table, but this term has been a lot different.

De Godenzonen have won nine of their 12 matches to date (W9 D2 L1) and could end this weekend inside the top two, with Utrecht - who are two points ahead of them - set to face PSV earlier in the day.

However, Francesco Farioli's side did suffer disappointment this week, as they conceded their first loss in the Europa League on Thursday when they were beaten by La Liga outfit Real Sociedad 2-0 on the road.

In league terms, though, Ajax beat PEC Zwolle 2-0 last weekend, extending their current unbeaten streak in the top flight to 10 matches, nine of which ended in victory, with a 2-2 draw against Twente being the only smudge on their record during that period.

NEC Eredivisie form:

L

W

L

W

W

L

Ajax Eredivisie form:

W

W

W

W

D

W

Team News

After missing eight matches with a shoulder injury, Dirk Proper returned to the squad and got the final 30 minutes against Utrecht last weekend. He will be hoping to make the starting 11 this week.

Philippe Sandler is flagged as a doubt, while the only known absentee for NEC this weekend is centre-back Bram Nuytinck, who has now been sidelined for the last three matches owing to an illness.

For the visitors, Wout Weghorst was forced to sit out the trip to Spain in midweek due to an illness, but reports in the build-up to this match suggest that the striker has recovered and will be part of the squad.

However, Ajax are still missing several first-team players due to injury, including the likes of Julian Rijkhoff (knee), Sivert Mannsverk (ankle), Amourricho Van Axel-Dongen (ankle) and long-term absentee Gaston Avila (knee).

NEC possible starting lineup:

Roefs; Pereira, Marquez, Nuytinck, Verdonk; Hoedemakers, Sano; Hansen, Gonzalez, Van Crooij; Ogawa

Ajax possible starting lineup:

Pasveer; Rensch, Sutalo, Baas, Hato; Klaassen, Henderson, Berghuis; Traore, Weghorst, Akpom

We say: NEC 1-2 Ajax

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