Ajax vs De Graafschap Predictions

Ajax sit two points behind league leaders and arch rivals PSV approaching the halfway stage in the Eredivisie, and will be expected to claim another three points on Sunday when they play host to De Graafschap. The visitors have, so far, found the Eredivisie the toughest of the newly promoted clubs after slipping to the bottom of the table last weekend after a heavy home defeat.

Ajax had already booked their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League before their final group game at home to Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. A highly competitive game produced six goals and two red cards as the pair played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Johan Cruijff Arena. There was just the one goal in the first half as Lewandowski’s thirteenth minute opener handed the visitors the lead, but two goals from Tadić looked to have won the game for Ajax with just eight minutes left on the clock. Sandwiched between the Serb’s goals were the straight red cards for Ajax’s Wöber in the sixty-seventh minute and Nayern’s Müller in the seventy-fifth. Lewandowski converted a penalty in the eighty-seventh minute and Coman scored a dramatic third goal in the ninetieth minute which appeared to have won the game for the visitors, but deep into stoppage time Tagliafico rescued a draw for the hosts which was s fair result on the balance of play.

De Graafschap managed to put an end to their losing streak by picking up a draw away at Den Haag last weekend, but are still without a win in their last six in league and cup. The visitors only had 37% of the overall possession in Den Haag, but managed more shots on target then their hosts. Den Haag always looked the more likely to score as the game went on, but were poor in the final third and a draw was probably a fair result. Sadly for De Graafschap that point was not enough to keep the newly promoted club from slipping to the bottom of the table thanks to Breda’s win against Vitesse.

These two sides last met back in 2016 where the hosts De Graafschap managed to claim a draw against the Dutch giants. Younes scored the only goal of the first half to hand Ajax the lead in the sixteenth minute. The hosts lost Koolhof to injury shortly before the half hour mark, but recovered well in the second half and levelled the match in the fifty-fifth minute through Smeets. Ajax had most of the possession, double the amount of corners, and far more shots than their hosts, but failed to carve out a winning goal.

Ajax are the clear form favourites heading into this weekend’s clash with five wins and a draw from their last six matches in the Eredivisie and Champions League. De Graafschap have lost five and drawn one of their last six, which suggests the odds of them even picking up a point on Sunday are very slim. Huntelaar and Tadić joint top score for the hosts with eight Eredivisie goals apiece, but teammate Ziyech is just one behind on seven. El Jebli and Serrarens both have three goals each in the league for De Graafschap and present the visitors best chance of scoring against Ajax this weekend.

We’re confident that Ajax will win to nil on Sunday, and have backed the final scoreline to read 4-0. Ajax have won five of their last six matches against De Graafschap and won five of their last six matches in all competitions. De Graafschap have lost five of their last six in league and cup and the visitors have failed to score in four of their last six matches. The visitors have a very poor record against Ajax and sit bottom of the table heading into Sunday’s clash.