🏏 Sun, 16 Aug 2026 16:45 CEST
Ajax
vs
SC Heerenveen
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
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- Two teams level on three points meet at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Ajax opened with a 0-2 win away at PEC Zwolle and sit ninth, while Heerenveen beat Twente 1-0 at home and sit 12th. Both have played only one match while most of the division has two games in the bank, so there is ground to make up on leaders AZ Alkmaar, who already have six points from two.
- The goalkeeping contrast is striking. Ajax hand the gloves to Marc-André ter Stegen, the 34-year-old German who guarded Barcelona's goal for more than a decade before a loan spell at Girona in early 2026 and a loan move to Amsterdam in August. His distribution makes him a key part of Ajax's build-up. Heerenveen stick with 20-year-old academy product Bernd Klaverboer, first choice since September 2025, with 203cm Andries Noppert — the Netherlands' number one at the 2022 World Cup — on the bench.
- The double pivots could not be more different. Ajax pair 33-year-old Davy Klaassen, in his third spell at the club, with 22-year-old Youri Regeer, who returned from FC Twente via a buy-back clause worth around €4.3m. Heerenveen counter with Proper, a 168cm NEC academy graduate whose ball-winning underpins the side, alongside 189cm Swede Marcus Lindaÿ, signed for a record fee from Swedish football. Whoever wins that duel dictates the tempo.
- A duel of number tens runs through the middle. Oscar Gloukh, the Israel international who cost roughly €14.75m from Red Bull Salzburg, is two-footed and specialises in the final pass in tight areas. Ringo Meerveld, a Den Bosch academy product who left as that club's record sale for Willem II, is Heerenveen's creative hub as an attacking midfielder. Both carry the burden of unlocking a compact block.
- Kasper Dolberg leads the Ajax line after a career that took him through Nice, Sevilla, Hoffenheim and Anderlecht before returning to the club where he broke through. The Denmark international, with 56 caps and 12 goals, can play with his back to goal or run in behind. He faces a physically imposing Heerenveen centre-back pairing in 191cm Sam Kersten and 190cm Mats Willemsen, so beating the line rather than winning headers looks the smarter route.
- The flanks promise plenty. Steven Berghuis, 34, starts on Ajax's right, where his left-footed cutbacks and set-piece delivery test Greece international left-back Vasilios Zagaritis, who moved on from Panathinaikos to Parma before arriving in Friesland. On the other side, left-footed Luca Oyen — a Genk academy graduate and son of former Belgium forward Davy Oyen — takes on Brazilian right-back Lucas Rosa, who came through Juventus' youth system and Real Valladolid.
- Ajax's youth movement is on show. Adel Ouazane, an academy-raised Dutch-Moroccan playmaker who was named best player at the Morocco U17 Africa Cup of Nations, starts in the hole. Alongside him at centre-back is 18-year-old Aaron Bouwman, a 188cm Jong Ajax graduate whose profile has invited Van Dijk comparisons. Also on the bench is Jorthy Mokio, an 18-year-old signed from Gent who made his senior Belgium debut in March 2025.
- Ko Itakura, the first Japanese player in Ajax's history, begins on the bench. The 29-year-old is 188cm, excels in the air and in one-on-one duels, and spent three seasons as a regular with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga. With a young starting pair of left-footed Youri Baas and teenager Bouwman in central defence, Itakura — who can also drop into midfield — is an obvious option if Ajax need to protect a lead or add height.
- Two Heerenveen players have Ajax on their CV. Reserve goalkeeper Timo Schreuder spent years in Ajax's academy before joining Heerenveen's U21 side in 2025, making this a return to familiar surroundings. Starting right-back Oliver Braude, a 22-year-old Norwegian, trialled at Ajax as well as Barcelona and Liverpool before joining Heerenveen's academy from the Stabæk and Vålerenga youth ranks.
- Ajax's bench gives them options late on. Julian Brandt, the 30-year-old German midfielder with Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund behind him, sits alongside 23-year-old Brazilian Marcos Leonardo, formerly of Santos, Benfica and Al-Hilal. Add 197cm Nigeria international Tolu Arokodare, an Ebony Shoe winner after 20 goals in Belgium, and Norwegian left winger Oliver Edvardsen, who scored 26 in two and a half seasons at Go Ahead Eagles.