Ajax vs Twente prediction: NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie betting tips on match 2023-01-14 20:00.
How relieved Alfred Schreuder will be that his team was able to progress to the next round of the KNVB during the week, but a victory against a bottom-half Eerste Divisie club (W 2-0 v FC Den Bosch) is far from a solution to their problems. A failure to win at both Emmen and NEC Nijmegen either side of the World Cup break means that Ajax are now four consecutive Eredivisie games without victory, now suffering their worst 15-game start to a season since 2013/14.
Ajax have been struggling with a lot of injuries throughout the season, forcing Schreuder to introduce new players into his team. To their benefit, some of them have already shown their best side. 20-year-old Portuguese player Francisco Conceição is creating a lot of danger from the right flank, inspiring a contingent of four youth team players who have already made senior debuts. Kian Fitz-Jim and Christian Rasmussen (both 19) recorded their first minutes against NEC, whilst defenders Olivier Aertssen (18) and Jorrel Hato (16) debuted against Den Bosch during the week.
The big winner of the previous round, in more ways than one, was visiting side FC Twente. The entire top four of the Eredivisie (prior to last weekend) played out draws, which allowed Twente to leapfrog AZ into fourth place with their best 15-game start to an Eredivisie campaign in a decade. The club from Enschede saw that success continued last Tuesday with their 3-1 KNVB Cup victory against Telstar. Daan Rots, who has not yet scored in this Eredivisie season, found the back of the net twice.
Twente have plenty of reasons to be confident of a strong showing in Amsterdam, despite not yet defeating a top-eight club away from home (D2, L2) in league football this season. The visitoes have lost just once in the Eredivisie since the beginning of October (W4, D2) – to league leaders Feyenoord, and they boast the best defence in the league by far, even conceding half as many league goals (nine) as Ajax have (18)! The opportunity to potentially move above Ajax will serve as ample motivation.
Players to watch: Dušan Tadić provided four assists in his last three matches for Ajax, whilst Ricky van Wolfswinkel has scored in five of his last six games in the Eredivisie for FC Twente.
Hot stat: Ajax saw both teams score in their last nine Eredivisie matches.