🏏 Sun, 30 Aug 2026 16:45 CEST
Telstar
vs
Ajax
3-4-2-1 vs 4-4-1-1
Substitutes
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Match Preview
- Telstar sit 13th on three points from two matches, having won 2-1 away at NEC on the opening weekend before losing 3-1 at home to Sparta Rotterdam. Ajax are 10th on four points after a 2-0 win at PEC Zwolle and a 2-2 home draw with Heerenveen. With AZ Alkmaar already clear at the top on 12 points from four games, the visitors can ill afford another dropped point at this stage.
- There is a clear reunion storyline in Telstar's back line. Gerard Aldus, the 21-year-old right-back from Amsterdam, came through the Ajax academy, spent time on loan at Twente and then joined Telstar in February 2026 for half a season. He liked Velsen-Zuid enough to return for 2026-27, and now he lines up directly against the club that raised him.
- The two goalkeepers share an unlikely link to Barcelona. Telstar's Ronald Koeman Jr, 31, is the son of the Netherlands head coach and was born in the Catalan capital; after spells at Almere City and TOP Oss he joined in 2021, helped the club end a 47-year wait for Eredivisie football and was voted their player of the year. Ajax counter with Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 34, who guarded the Barcelona goal for more than a decade before a loan at Girona and this August's loan move to Amsterdam.
- Telstar's 3-4-2-1 against Ajax's 4-4-1-1 sets up an interesting shape battle. The hosts stretch the pitch through wing-backs Aldus on the right and 31-year-old Hardeveld on the left, a Feyenoord academy product with Eredivisie mileage at Utrecht, Heracles and Emmen. His left-footed crossing and set-piece delivery are Telstar's most reliable route into the box, if they can get him forward.
- In the air, Tolu Arokodare is the dominant figure. The 197cm Nigeria international scored 20 goals in the Belgian league and won the Ebony Shoe before this move, and he pairs that height with surprisingly neat footwork inside the box. Marvin Peersman, the 35-year-old Belgian at the heart of Telstar's back three, must lead the resistance, drawing on years spent at Hapoel Tel Aviv, PAS Giannina and Aris Thessaloniki.
- Ajax's midfield four blends craft and mileage. Number ten Oscar Gloukh, 22, arrived from Red Bull Salzburg for around 14.75 million euros and uses both feet with equal comfort as Israel's chief creator. Beside him are Davy Klaassen, 33, a club legend now in his third spell after Everton, Werder Bremen and Inter, and the left-footed Steven Berghuis, 34, whose switch from Feyenoord still divides opinion in the Netherlands.
- Julian Brandt occupies the pocket just behind the striker. At 30, the German has a long Bundesliga career at Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund behind him, and his left foot supplies the final pass. Standing 185cm, he offers Ajax a way of playing through the lines to Arokodare rather than simply crossing at a compact Telstar block.
- Ajax's defence, by contrast, is remarkably young. The centre-back pairing of 196cm left-footer Dies Janse, 20, and 188cm Aaron Bouwman, 19, is flanked by 18-year-old Jorthy Mokio, signed from Gent and already a senior Belgium international since March 2025. The experience comes from the full-back berths: Caio Henrique, 29, made 211 appearances with 41 assists at Monaco, while Anton Gaaei, 23, arrived for a record fee from Viborg.
- Telstar's threat runs through their front three. Jeredy Seedorf, 22, the nephew of Clarence Seedorf, came through Sparta Rotterdam's youth system via Excelsior and leads the line. Behind him, Portuguese winger Rui Mendes, 26, scored 15 goals in the Eerste Divisie to help Emmen go up after 10 in 59 games for Hoffenheim II, and his right-footed pace makes him the obvious outlet on the break.
- The benches carry weight too. Ajax hold back Oliver Edvardsen, the 27-year-old Norwegian who scored 26 goals in two and a half seasons at Go Ahead Eagles, Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo, 23, formerly of Santos, Benfica and Al-Hilal, and Kasper Dolberg, back at his breakthrough club after Nice, Sevilla, Hoffenheim and Anderlecht. Telstar's game-changer is Emirhan Demircan, 21, a Turkey youth international schooled at Bayern Munich.