🏏 Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:45 CEST
FC Groningen
vs
Ajax
4-2-3-1 vs 4-3-3
Substitutes
Substitutes
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- Only one point separates these two: Ajax sit fifth on 15 points, Groningen sixth on 14, both having played eight matches. Ajax have the better underlying numbers with 22 scored and just 10 conceded for a goal difference of +12, while Groningen have 20 for and 14 against at +6. With Feyenoord already on 23 points from nine games, neither side can afford to drop further behind the leaders.
- Recent momentum favours the hosts. Groningen have gone L-D-D-W-W, thumping PEC Zwolle 3-0 at home on matchday seven before winning 5-1 away at Excelsior on matchday eight. Ajax, meanwhile, read L-W-W-D-D and have stalled with back-to-back home draws: 2-2 against Excelsior and 1-1 against NEC Nijmegen. The fact Groningen put five past a side Ajax could not beat gives this fixture an edge.
- Pelle Clement lines up in Groningen's double pivot against the club that produced him. The 24-year-old central midfielder came through the Ajax academy before building a career at Reading in England, PEC Zwolle, Sparta Rotterdam and RKC Waalwijk. At 183cm he is the metronome of this side, valued for his passing accuracy and his ability to dictate tempo, and how he copes with Ajax's three-man midfield will shape the game.
- There is a reunion on the other side too. Dies Janse starts at centre-back for Ajax having spent a loan spell at Groningen learning the Eredivisie. The 20-year-old is a towering 196cm left-footer whose aerial dominance and distribution have earned him Netherlands Under-21 recognition. He partners 19-year-old Aaron Bouwman (188cm), making this one of the youngest central defensive pairings in the division.
- The goalkeeping contrast is striking. Ajax have Marc-André ter Stegen, 34, who guarded Barcelona's goal for more than a decade before a loan spell at Girona in early 2026 and his August move to Amsterdam; his exceptional footwork makes him a genuine part of the build-up. Groningen counter with 189cm Etienne Vaessen, 31, who played 196 matches across nine years at RKC Waalwijk.
- Ajax's midfield trio is built around Sofyan Amrabat, the 25-year-old Morocco international whose pressing and ball-winning come with a Champions League final appearance at Fiorentina and an FA Cup won at Manchester United. Alongside him are Davy Klaassen, 33, a club icon now in his third Ajax spell, and 18-year-old Belgium international Jorthy Mokio, signed from Gent. Groningen answer with Clement and the 173cm Tika de Jonge, 23.
- In attack Ajax lean on Oscar Gloukh, the 22-year-old Israel international attacking midfielder who arrived from Red Bull Salzburg for around €14.75m. Wearing the number 10 and comfortable off either foot, he supplies the creativity for Marcos Leonardo, the 23-year-old Brazilian forward who came through Santos and passed through Benfica and Al-Hilal, with Julian Brandt, 30, a Bundesliga veteran of Dortmund and Leverkusen, on the other flank.
- Groningen's attack is led by Iceland international Brynjólfur Andersen Willumsson, a 26-year-old centre-forward of 185cm who joined via Breiðablik and Norwegian side Kristiansund and thrives with his back to goal. Behind him are Jacob Ondrejka, the 24-year-old Sweden international winger on loan from Parma since August 2026, plus academy products Thom van Bergen (22) and David van der Werff (22), underlining how much homegrown talent this side fields.
- Both benches carry game-changers. Ajax can call on 197cm Nigeria international Tolu Arokodare, 25, a former Ebony Shoe winner after scoring 20 goals in Belgium, Ukraine winger Viktor Tsygankov, 28, a left-footed Dynamo Kyiv graduate, and Thilo Kehrer, 30, who spent four seasons at Paris Saint-Germain. Groningen hold back 192cm Polish striker Oskar Zawada, 30, a Wolfsburg academy product, as their aerial option.