Preview: Ajax vs. Heerenveen - prediction, team news, lineups

The hosts have been experiencing their worst-ever start to a league campaign this season and are currently in 15th place with eight points, while the visitors are two points ahead of them in 10th spot.

Match preview

In 1964-65, Ajax had their previous worst start to a season, securing only four points from their first five games, but with just eight points after nine this term, there are already concerns that this could be the season that they end lower than their all-time worst finish of 13th.

Indeed, this season has been an absolute disaster for de Godenzonen; however, they managed to drag themselves out of the relegation zone for just the second time this term when they pulled off a 2-0 win over Volendam in midweek.

Steven Bergwijn opened the scoring before Chuba Akpom registered his first Eredivisie goal for Ajax in 11 appearances and, with that, managed to break a streak of 10 consecutive winless games.

Interim head coach John van't Schip will know he has his work cut out to get de Joden back to their normal standing at the other end of the table, but the new boss would have taken heaps of confidence having made a winning start in his first game in charge.

Undoubtedly, one of the major issues that the interim coach will need to address immediately is his side's poor defensive performances, as they have already let in 21 goals this season, which is the second-worst record in the league, with only Hearcles faring worse.

Still, having laid the platform with a morale-boosting win last time out, Ajax will need to build on that performance, as a run of a few good results could propel them into the top six fairly quickly, with just six points separating the top five sides from the bottom five.

Meanwhile, after finishing in eighth place in the Eredivisie for two successive seasons, Heerenveen have made another mixed start this campaign, recording 10 points in as many matches.

De Superfriezen have a record of three wins, one draw and six losses this term and come into this match fresh off the back of a commanding 5-1 win over lower-league VVV in the KNVB Beker cup in midweek.

That result followed a 3-0 victory over Heracles, while their only defeat in their last five matches in all competitions came against second-placed AZ Alkmaar directly after the international break last month.

While Ajax are certainly a long way from their best, they have been the dominant side in this fixture, unbeaten in their last 16 encounters, including a whopping 15 wins and just one draw dating back to March 2015.

In order to win this one, though, Kees van Wonderen's side will need to snap up a four-match losing streak in away matches, during which time they conceded 13 goals while only scoring three in response and were shut out in their last two games.

Ajax Eredivisie form:

L

L

L

L

L

W

Ajax form (all competitions):

D

L

L

L

L

W

Heerenveen Eredivisie form:

L

L

L

D

L

W

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Team News

Ajax are set to face the next few matches without goalkeepers Geronimo Rulli and Jay Gorter through injury, which will mean that Diant Ramaj will continue between the sticks for the foreseeable future.

Sivert Mannsverk (foot), Devyne Rensch (knock), Amourricho van Axel Dongen (knock), Borna Sosa (knock) and Carlos Forbs (knock) are injured and have all been ruled out of this match.

The visitors have just one injury concern in this match, with Ion Nicolaescu still working his way back to full fitness and likely to miss out on at least another month of playing time.

Osame Sahraoui, who has scored four goals and featured in all 10 of Heerenveen's league games this season, has been flagged with a knock, though he has not been ruled out of contention for selection as yet.

Ajax possible starting lineup:

Ramaj; Gaaei, Sutalo, Avila, Hato; van den Boomen, Taylor; Bergwijn, Hlynsson, Berghuis; Brobbey

Heerenveen possible starting lineup:

Backhaus; Payne, Benamar, Flint, Cox; Mirani, Twigt; Ould-Chikh, de Haan, Johnson; Muehren

We say: Ajax 2-1 Heerenveen

Ajax experienced a new-manager bounce in the last match and will be looking to keep the momentum going as they approach their must-win Europa League encounter against Brighton & Hove Albion next week. Last week's win could be the turning point in the season for the hosts, and we fancy them to go back-to-back in this one.

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