Dutch EreDivision
2007-12-02 - Ajax vs NAC Breda
A Sports Betting Pick by Erik
Ajax
Ajax booked a 4-1 home win over Vitesse last week with the team playing a good first half in which Suarez (att), Luque (att) and Gabri (mid) found the net before Vitesse managed to pull one goal back just before halftime.
With Feyenoord dropping points on the road to FC Groningen, Ajax are the solemn leaders in the ranking at the moment with 28 points from 12 games and the confidence in the team is growing by the week.
Interim manager Koster has gained a lot of credit over the last few weeks, giving some youngsters the chance in the first selection with De Jong (mid), Van der Wiel (def) and Donald (def) all making their appearances in the selection over the last few weeks with De Jong (mid) being a regular starting eleven player in the last two games.
Ajax will host NAC Breda on Sunday and the team will be without the longterm injured Davids (mid), Manucharyan (att), Delorge (att), Leonardo (att) and Vermaelen (def) while Gabri (mid) is also expected to miss the game on Sunday with a calf injury.
Van der Wiel (def) will be doubtful with the defender picking up a knee injury in the game against Feyenoord.
NAC Breda
NAC Breda has known a very decent season so far with the team occupying the seventh place in the ranking with only one point separating them from the number four SC Heerenveen.
Without playing too impressive the team has achieved some good results drawing 1-1 on the road to FC Twente and beating FC Utrecht 0-1 away. Last week NAC Breda booked a 0-0 draw at home to Roda JC in an abysmal match in which both teams managed to create only one good chance each.
For the game against Ajax on Sunday captain De Graaff (mid) will remain sidelined with a longterm groin injury while Zoetebier (gk) and Sikora (att) are not expected to be back before the winter break. Lurling (att) will be doubtful with the striker not fully recovered from a knee injury and although playing with pain killers against Roda JC, the creative forward will most likely remain sidelined with Kolkka (att) taking over his place up front.
Previous meetings
13/04/2007 Ajax - NAC Breda 2-0
26/03/2006 Ajax - NAC Breda 1-1
22/08/2004 Ajax - NAC Breda 6-2
09/05/2004 Ajax - NAC Breda 2-0
29/09/2002 Ajax - NAC Breda 2-2
18/11/2001 Ajax - NAC Breda 1-3
27/04/2001 Ajax - NAC Breda 1-0
Verdict
Being undefeated in the Eredivisie in the first twelve games recording eight wins and four draws, Ajax looks one of the main contenders for the title this season.
Suarez (att) and Huntelaar (att) have been performing very good up front with the latter scoring twelve competition goals so far this season and with also Luque (att) improving his form by the week, Ajax has quite some scoring power up front with the team averaging 3.08 goals per match.
In their last two home games against Vitesse (4-1) and Roda JC (4-2) the hosts managed to score four goals with the only weak spot in the team being the defense after the departure of Stam (def).
NAC Breda are good travelers this season with the team only losing once in their last six meetings on the road and collecting three wins. However, despite managing to keep a clean sheet in five of their last nine games the strikers of Ajax will be an altogether different story than the ones they faced in their recent games.
After conceding eight goals in their first two games the team conceded only seven goals in their remaining ten matches, but I sincerely do think that this good record will come to an end when visiting Ajax.
NAC Breda will be most likely missing Lurling (att) up front and this will be a huge blow to the creativity of the team with also captain De Graaf (mid) remaining sidelined.
Despite the sometimes shaky defense of Ajax, I can not see NAC Breda scoring more than one goal in Amsterdam (most likely none) and with the scoring power of Ajax being far too big for the NAC defense, I can not see past another home win.
The Pick :
Ajax to win
BEST BETTING TIP :
Ajax to beat NAC Breda $1.3010/10 units staked on this
