Match Details

Tournament: Eredivisie
Venue: Johan Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam
Date: Sunday, 15^th August 2021
Time: 12:30 AM IST

Preview:

Ajax look to start their title defense on a positive note as they take on newly-promoted NEC Nijmegen. The hosts romped to the title last season, with their 88 points being 16 clear of 2^nd placed PSV, but the latter did come out on top in the Johan Cruyff Shield between these sides on Saturday by a 4-0 scoreline. NEC, meanwhile, secured promotion through the playoffs and they have won their last 3 pre-season games without conceding a goal. Despite this recent form, however, they are heavy underdogs in this one.

Probable Starting Lineups

Ajax:

Maarten Stekelenburg (gk), Lisandro Martinez, Edson Alvarez, Noussair Mazroui, Daley Blind, Davy Klaassen, Ryan Gravenberch, David Neres, Dusan Tadic, Sebastien Haller, Steven Berghuis.

NEC Nijmegen:

Mattijs Branderhorst (gk), Ivan Marquez, Cas Odenthal, Souffian El Karouani, Bart Van Rooij, Dirk Proper, Lasse Schone, Mikkel Duelund, Jordy Bruijn, Magnus Mattsson, Jonathan Okita.

Fantasy breakdown:

Ajax:

Dusan Tadic and Sebastien Haller are excellent forward picks here. Tadic was their leading scorer and assist provider in the league last season with 14 and 17 respectively while Haller had 11 goals to go with 5 assists in 19 appearances.

Steven Berghuis and Davy Klaassen are must-have options here as well. Berghuis was outstanding for Feyenoord last season with 19 goals to go with 13 assists in the league while Klaassen had 12 goals and 3 assists.

Lisandro Martinez heads up the Ajax defense and he has also had 3 goals to go with an assist in the Eredivisie last season.

NEC Nijmegen:

Jonathan Okita had 8 goals to go with 5 assists for NEC in the 2^nd division last season. He has also scored twice in the pre-season so far.

Jordy Bruijn was the leading scorer for NEC in the league last season with 12 goals and he led the team in assists as well with 8. He has also scored in each of his last 2 pre-season games.

Souffian El Karouani was one of the best-attacking fullbacks in the 2^nd division last season, registering 3 goals and 8 assists from the left-back slot.

Top picks

Must-haves:

• Dusan Tadic
• Sebastien Haller
• Steven Berghuis
• Davy Klaassen
• Lisandro Martinez
• Jordy Bruijn

Worth a shot:

• Daley Blind
• David Neres
• Jonathan Okita
• Souffian El Karouani

Captaincy options:

1. Dusan Tadic: Tadic is the best bet for a goal involvement here and the veteran has had a good pre-season as well, with a goal and 2 assists in his last 4 pre-season games.
2. Steven Berghuis: Berghuis hasn’t quite been at his best in the pre-season, but we still back him here for vice-captaincy due to his 32 goal involvements in the Eredivisie last season.

Fantasy team:

*Statistics are collected from whoscored.com, transfermarkt.com, and sofascore.com.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are of the author and are not a reflection of the actual points you might earn.