Ajax host AZ Alkmaar at the Johan Cruijff Arena on Saturday in an Eredivisie matchday 11 fixture that could shuffle the top end of the table. Ajax are second on 21 points after beating Sparta Rotterdam 2-1 last weekend, while AZ sit fifth on 20.
That is why Ajax Vs AZ is drawing attention now: the gap between them is only one point, and the result will matter immediately in a tight race with PSV Eindhoven and Twente. Ajax have won six, drawn three and lost one of their 10 league games under Michel Sanchez, but their home record remains far shakier than their away form.
The numbers at the Johan Cruijff Arena are hard to ignore. Ajax have one home win, three draws and one 3-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven, and they have conceded in all five of their league games there. They have scored nine and conceded nine at home, compared with four goals conceded away, which helps explain why this fixture feels so different from their travels to PEC Zwolle, Telstar, Fortuna Sittard, Groningen and Sparta, where they have won every time.
Michel Sanchez also has to do it without several attacking options. Kasper Dolberg is the longest-term absentee after a successful operation on the knee injury he suffered in training with Denmark during the October international break, while Caio Henrique and Anton Gaaei are not expected back until after the international break. Simon Adingra and Oliver Edvardsen are also out, leaving Ajax with less room to adjust if the game turns.
There is still enough form at Ajax to suggest a side capable of hurting AZ. Julian Brandt has six league goals and two assists, and he created both first-half goals at Sparta. Tolu Arokodare has five league goals after scoring in first-half stoppage time in Rotterdam, while Abdellah Ouazane added the opener in the 22nd minute. Daley Blind also returned as a late substitute after a back injury that had kept him out since mid-August.
AZ arrive with their own problem. Leeroy Echteld’s side have won six, drawn two and lost two of their 10 league games, but they have taken only one point from their last three league matches after defeats at Feyenoord and at home to Twente, plus a draw at Cambuur. They have scored 20 and conceded 12 in the league, which has been enough to keep them level on points with PSV Eindhoven and Twente, but not enough to stop the recent drift.
The recent meetings point the other way. Ajax have not lost to AZ in 11 meetings since a 2-0 KNVB Cup semi-final defeat on March 3, 2022, and AZ were still able to hit them for six in the cup round of 16 in Alkmaar on January 14. Saturday’s game is a league meeting, not a cup tie, and Ajax’s home record gives AZ a real chance to test whether that old control still holds. For Sanchez, the question is simple: can Ajax protect their place in the table without the injured players they might lean on most?
