Dutch EreDivision
2008-09-21 - Feyenoord vs Ajax Amsterdam
A Sports Betting Pick by Erik
Netherlands, Eredivisie
Sunday, 21st September 2008 - KO 11:30 GMT
Both Feyenoord and Ajax have been involved in European matches this week and the morale in the team of Feyenoord has been given quite a thumping after their 0-1 defeat at home to Kalmar FF.
Feyenoord played a poor match and the team was lucky not to concede more than one goal and to be able to reach the second round of the UEFA Cup a win must be recorded on the road to Kalmar.
Ajax booked a 1-4 win on the road to FK Borac thanks to goals from Sulejmani, Suarez and two from Huntelaar and the return in Amsterdam will be nothing more than a formality in two weeks.
Feyenoord
In the domestic competition Feyenoord grabbed a 5-0 win at home to FC Volendam last weekend thanks to two penalties from Tomasson in the first half.
In the second half Biseswar managed to find the net twice and in the final minutes of the game Mols determined the final score on 5-0 with Feyenoord erasing the bad feelings from the 3-1 defeat on the road to Heracles Almelo in the first round.
Ajax
A win 1-0 win over Roda JC last Sunday meant the first official three points for Van Basten in the service of Ajax, but the lack of sharpness and efficiency in the team caused some worries. Ajax appeared in front of the Roda JC goal a dozen times but Sulejmani, Suarez and Huntelaar all failed in translating their chances into goals.
The midweek UEFA Cup game against FK Borac showed that all three players did not lose their scoring abilities with Ajax having on paper by far the strongest attack of the Eredivisie this season.
Previous meetings
03/02/2008 Ajax - Feyenoord 3-0
11/11/2007 Feyenoord - Ajax 2-2
04/02/2007 Ajax - Feyenoord 4-1
22/10/2006 Feyenoord - Ajax 0-4
23/04/2006 Feyenoord - Ajax 2-4 (Play-offs)
20/04/2006 Ajax - Feyenoord 3-0 (Play-offs)
05/02/2006 Feyenoord - Ajax 3-2
28/08/2005 Ajax - Feyenoord 1-2
17/04/2005 Feyenoord - Ajax 2-3
14/11/2004 Ajax - Feyenoord 1-1
Since the season 1990/1991 Feyenoord and Ajax played each other 18 times in Rotterdam of which Feyenoord only manage to win 4 times against 9 wins for Ajax. Five times the match ended in a draw including last season when both teams settled for a 2-2 draw after ninety minutes.
Injuries/suspensions
Feyenoord : Andwele Slory (att) (hamstring), Danny Buijs (mid) (injury), Danny Landzaat (mid) (hamstring), Jonathan de Guzman (mid) (suspended), Karim el Ahmadi (att) (groin injury), Kevin Hofland (def) (doubtful, ankle injury), Ron Vlaar (def) (knee injury), Tim Vincken (def) (injury)
Ajax : Gabri (mid) (ankle injury), Ismael Aissati (mid) (knee injury), Jan-Arie van der Heijden (mid) (injury), Mitchell Donald (def) (knee injury)
The Verdict
The matches between Ajax and Feyenoord are always one of the highlights in the Dutch Eredivisie and the rivalry between the two teams is huge. Both teams had a false start in the competition losing their opening game but both Ajax and Feyenoord managed to set things straight in their second game wwith Feyenoord trashing FC Volendam 5-0 and Ajax booking a narrow win over Roda JC despite creating a shipload of chances.
When we take a look at the results in the previous meetings between Ajax and Feyenoord we see that Ajax clearly has the better record, especially over the last few years with Ajax winning six from their last ten meetings and losing only twice.
The quality of both teams also differs quite a bit with Ajax having a very strong attacking line while Feyenoord has some troube in finding the net lately scoring only once against Heracles Almelo and needing two penalties against FC Volendam to take a comfortable lead. Ajax on the other hand showed to have no problems at all in setting up good attacks and with all three forwards scoring in the midweek UEFA Cup game against FK Borac, the confidence in the team has been given a great boost.
Taking a look at the injuries and suspensions we can see that Feyenoord has to miss a lot of quality and experience against Ajax with Hofland, Landzaat and De Guzman remaining sidelined on Sunday. This will mean that Feyenoord will miss their most important central defender, defensive midfielder and creative midfielder and with both Sulejmani and Suarez being in form at the moment, the two strikers of Ajax can cause some serious problems for Feyenoord up front.
So - Ajax has the better record, the better individual players, less important injury and a higher morale. Taking into account that Feyenoord has the home advantage, this being a 'Dutch classic' and the fighting power of Feyenoord that never has to be underestimated, I still can not see Feyenoord getting anything from this game at this point in the competition. The prices that are offered on the away win are fair and I will be siding with the visitors here on Sunday.
Those who are a little more cautious can also opt for the Ajax Draw-no-bet option at a generous $1.73 on Bet365 or lay Feyenoord on Betfair for the X2 option $1.41.
