Utrecht v Ajax

The second of the must-watch ties for this weekend’s Eredivisie re-start comes in Utrecht.

Utrecht have slipped to seventh, and the board have had to publicly back René Hake ‘until a review at the end of the season’, which won’t give great confidence to supporters that they can rekindle the form at the beginning of the campaign that saw them sit fourth for many weeks. Of course, they were shock winners in Amsterdam in the reverse fixture (0-1), so Ajax will be out for revenge. Ajax players do sometimes speak of how difficult it is to play away at Utrecht, and their previous meetings history is littered with wins for their local rivals.

Brian Brobbey is the January replacement for Sébastien Haller, who is on duty at the African Cup of Nations, and I expect he will start the match. It remains to be seen how good Brobbey now is after a failed spell in Germany.

The reason why I have gone with Asian lines is because I don’t see Ajax being able to beat their opponents by two or three clear goals straight after the Christmas break. Utrecht are defensively quite solid, and they have players to hurt big sides on the counter attack, and they have already beaten Feyenoord at home this season in a brilliant display.

These are great odds for Utrecht to either earn a positive result, or to lose narrowly in what should be another memorable Utrecht v Ajax fixture.

FC Groningen v PSV

In the past, Groningen have been difficult to beat in these home games versus top four opposition. Danny Buijs leaving Groningen in May is a move which symbolises to me that he isn’t having the impact that he once was in the dressing room. For three years, Groningen were proud of their defensive record, but this season has been far worse in that regard, and young players have not been developed enough to help them reach their potential; for example, Paulos Abraham isn’t fulfilling his potential since a big-money move, and Thijs Dallinga has gone on to become the top-scorer of the Keuken Kampioen Divisie since leaving the club.

PSV will be slowly regaining their players after an injury-hit, hectic last few months. To be top at Christmas despite losing the likes of Cody Gakpo, Eran Zahavi and Noni Madueke is a wonderful achievement for Roger Schmidt, but the German head coach has come under pressure for some poor Europa League results, big losses against Eredivisie title rivals, and perhaps an overreliance on last-minute goals against mid-table opposition.

I don’t see PSV needing a late goal at Groningen though. The difference in quality here will be obvious from the get-go. Buijs’ men have struggled to create many goal-scoring opportunities in games lately, and an early goal for PSV will make it easy.

Cambuur v Sparta Rotterdam

This will be an absolute clash of styles. Cambuur love to be open and attacking – which has served them well to be eighth in the current standings – and Sparta are defensively more resolute.

The reason why Sparta are seventeenth though is because they are the second-lowest scorers in the division. Adrián Dalmau was signed from Utrecht earlier this month, which will bolster their attack; he will go straight into the starting line-up here, I would have thought. The problem though is that Dalmau is a poacher and Sparta don’t create enough opportunities, but I do think they will return to the relegation scrap fighting for a result.

The reason why I have gone with both teams to score is that Cambuur are almost always good for a goal, having scored or conceded in each of their last eight games, and they have only failed to score at all in an Eredivisie fixture on only two occasions this season!

Sparta will be battling for points; I think the Rotterdam side will just about stay up, so that means the results have to come now.

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Fortuna Sittard v AZ Alkmaar

If you put the defeats to PSV and Ajax to one side, Fortuna were beginning a mini-revival right before the Winter break, earning results against PEC Zwolle and Utrecht. That renewed optimism will give us a good game on Sunday against AZ.

The Alkmaar outfit have won seven games in a row in all competitions, but haven’t always looked at their free-flowing best. They also beat Belgian side Gent in their warm-up back from the Winter break.

Fortuna sit in the relegation zone at the half-way point despite being comfortably in mid-table last season. The difference this time round seems mainly to be the lack of attacking quality, leading to more chances being conceded against because the attacks keep flooding back at them. The way Fortuna will play will suit AZ, who much prefer an open game. The home side don’t have the players to change their style and sit deep.

There should be plenty of goals then, but I also fancy Fortuna to continue an upward trajectory. After this, they face seven games against sides outside of the top seven.

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