Go Ahead Eagles vs Ajax Reserves Predictions

Shining lights of the early season Go Ahead Eagles will bid to bounce back from their first defeat of the campaign at Jong AZ when they host defending champions Jong Ajax at De Adelaarshorst this week. The Deventer outfit could return to the top of Eerste Divisie with a win, but it won’t be easy against Michael Reiziger’s talented side.

Go Ahead Eagles had a dream start to the season in notching four wins on the bounce, and it’s inevitable that such a fine run of form had to end at some point.

Nonetheless, after victories against Jong Utrecht (5-0), FC Eindhoven (1-2), MVV (1-2) and Volendam (3-0), John Stegeman’s charges weren’t expected to come unstuck in Alkmaar against a Jong AZ side who went into the game at AFAS Stadion with just one point on the board from four outings.

But Eagles got off to a really bad start, conceding a penalty after just six minutes which was converted by Ferdy Druijf, and they were always chasing the game thereafter.

They managed to get back on level terms through Thomas Verheydt midway through the first half, but further goals either side of half time from Druijf and Jamie Jacobs put the game out of their reach.

Summer signing Richard van der Venne bagged his fourth goal of the season but it proved insufficient for Go Ahead, and the 3-2 reversal means they drop to 2^nd in the table heading into match day six, a point behind leaders Cambuur who maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign with a 2-0 victory over Telstar.

Still, a 12 point haul from four matches is impressive stuff for a team that finished 17^th in 2017/18, and they’ll hope to get straight back on track this Friday when they host champions Jong Ajax.

Jong got their title defence off to a bad start on the opening night with a 2-1 defeat at Roda JC, however Michael Reiziger’s men have since responded tremendously to that disappointment.

After beating Dordrecht 5-2 and Jong AZ 0-1 either side of a 1-1 draw at Den Bosch, Jong Ajax turned in an efficient display on Monday night to beat Helmond Sport 2-0 at Sportpark De Toekomst.

Captain Dani de Wit scored a brilliant brace for Jong to seal the points and extend their unbeaten run to four, and the result lifts them into 5^th place going into Friday’s clash at De Adelaarshorst. A win here for Jong will take them onto 13 points and see them leapfrog Go Ahead in the Eerste Divisie standings.

This is the standout fixture on match six for obvious reasons – we have two teams in great form overall who both currently sit in the top five.

And interestingly, it’s the hosts who’ve dominated recent fixtures, including last season where they secured a double over their rivals, despite the 16 place gap in the final table.

Go Ahead smashed Jong 4-1 in this corresponding fixture last October, and followed up that surprise rout with a 0-2 success in Amsterdam at the start of March.

Those results will give Eagles a serious edge here, and we’re backing the Deventer outfit to regain the winning feeling back in the comfort of De Adelaarshorst, where they’ve been imperious so far this term, scoring eight goals en route to a perfect six points from six.

Both teams are fluent in front of goal with 24 scored between them in ten combined outings this season, so we’re also going for a small wager on a 3-2 correct score in favour of the hosts.