2026/2027 season

Eredivisie

Team page
Eredivisie · Team page
Ajax
Head coach: Míchel Sánchez · 4-3-3
Rank
5th
Pts
15
P
8
Form
🟡 Average

The essentials at a glance

The summary of this page: estimated level of play, form trend and qualitative verdict. For the details, head to the other tabs.

Editors' ratings
9/10
Attack
8/10
Defence
5/10
Form
6/10
Confidence / mood
Current risk:High

5th with 15 pts from 8 matches: 4 wins, 3 draws, 1 defeat.

22 goals scored, 10 conceded.

The fact that Marcos Leonardo doesn't come from Ajax is no surprise to Hans van der Zee. The former head scout of the Amsterdammers was already not enthusiastic about the Brazilian mid-front. Van der Zee thinks Leonardo is inadequate and certainly not Ajax-spits. Marcos Leonardo is mercifully defeated [...] Continue reading..

Soccernews · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

The Dutch managed to bring to Lazio some of the club culture where he grew up: Stefano Chioffi's comment

Corriere dello Sport · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

After the Conference League-duel with Hajduk Split, Ajax-trainer Míchel Sánchez was surprised. The Spaniard tried to make himself understood in English at Ziggo Sport, but that went almost spotless. At the Algemeen Dagblad journalist Sjoerd Mossou draws a hard conclusion for technical director Jordi Cruijff. Interview after defeat at Hajduk [...] Continue reading..

Soccernews · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

FC Groningen and Ajax compete in the Eredivisie. In the SN TV guide you can see on which channel this game can be seen. [...] Read on... On which channel do you watch FC Groningen live? appeared first on Soccernews.nl .

Soccernews · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

How the team has played recently

Match-by-match results, record and rhythm of the current season.

Latest matches
Dvs NEC (H) · 1-1
Dvs SBV Excelsior (H) · 2-2
Wvs Willem II Tilburg (H) · 5-1
Wvs Fortuna Sittard (A) · 5-1
Lvs PSV (H) · 1-3
WWWWDDDL
22 scored / 10 conceded over 8 matches played
Rest: 8 days since the last match · 1 match played in the last 15 days
Home form
1W - 3D - 1L
Away form
3W - 0D - 0L
Statistics

Computed from this season's scores, every time the page is shown.

Goals scored per match
2.8
Goals conceded per match
1.6
At home
9 scored · 7 conceded in 4 matches
Away
5 scored · 1 conceded in 1 match
Over 2.5 goals
4 of 5
Both teams score
5 of 5
Clean sheets
0 of 5
Failed to score
0 of 5
Cumulative points vs league average

Not enough matchdays recorded yet for this curve — history builds up with every standings refresh.

How Ajax play

System, playing identity, and what sets the team apart at both ends of the pitch.

Playing identity
Preferred system
4-3-3
Philosophy
Míchel Sánchez, appointed on 2 June 2026, wants a game built from the middle of the park: he has made the holding midfielder his absolute priority, believing that play must always start from midfield. The project is steered by technical director Jordi Cruijff, who was looking for a leader-type defensive playmaker, able to win the ball back and distribute it.
Attacking strengths
The attack was rebuilt this summer around Marcos Leonardo, signed from Al-Hilal, and Tolu Arokodare, supported by senior players Davy Klaassen and Steven Berghuis. At Telstar (0-4, 30/08/2026), the four goals were scored by four different players: Klaassen, Berghuis, Arokodare and Marcos Leonardo.
Defensive solidity
The centre-back pairing is very young: Dies Janse (20) and Aaron Bouwman (19) started at Telstar, with Jorthy Mokio (18) in front of them in the number 6 role. Ajax have conceded only 2 goals in 3 Eredivisie matchdays, but the NOS noted 9 goals conceded over the four matches in all competitions preceding Sofyan Amrabat's arrival.
Pressing
Transitions
StrengthThe experience of the senior players (Klaassen, Berghuis, Blind, Brandt, ter Stegen) combined with an extensive summer recruitment drive: Julian Brandt, Marc ter Stegen, Marcos Leonardo, Tolu Arokodare, Viktor Tsyhankov and then Sofyan Amrabat. Seven points taken from three matchdays and a 0-4 at Telstar.
WeaknessThe number 6 position remained vacant all summer following Jordan Henderson's departure for Chelsea: Youri Regeer never convinced and Amrabat only signed on 30/08, two days before the close of the transfer window. The central defence rests on players aged 18 to 20.

The mood around the club, and who is missing

Internal climate, relationship with the supporters, and known absences before the next match.

Mood
Squad confidence
The squad is still carried by a comfortable win at Telstar and by a very busy window, but Míchel himself acknowledged that his squad was still short of a winger who can beat a man.
Coach / players / board relationship
The sporting department led by Jordi Cruijff completed several late deals, including Thilo Kehrer's loan, and was praised for the scale of the work done this summer.
Mood with the supporters
Ajax offer the second most expensive season ticket in the Eredivisie in 2026-27, at 312 euros for the entry-level package, behind only PSV (NLTimes, 07/08/2026).
Pressure on the head coach
Míchel Sánchez's first season, having arrived after the fifth-place finish of 2025-26, at a club displaying an ambitious rebuild under Jordi Cruijff. Ajax must also manage the Conference League league phase, secured at the end of August against Sion.
Club objectives
Return to the title race after a fifth-place finish in 2025-26 (Opta credit them with a 10.2% chance of the title) and compete in the UEFA Conference League league phase, qualified for after a 4-2 in Sion and then a 5-3 in the return leg.
Recent internal tensions
No internal tension reported at this stage.
Absences
InjuredDaley Blind — Injured since the end of August, he has resumed individual work; Míchel was hoping for a return within one to two weeks.
DoubtfulSimon Adingra — Arrived on loan from Sunderland on deadline day, having only just returned from injury.

Before kick-off

What to know before the next match: statistical form, qualitative analysis, and a computed estimate of the 1/X/2 probabilities.

Next match

FC Groningen — Ajax

AwaySunday 18 October at 16:45Matchday 9
It's today. Kick-off time confirmed by the league. Paris time · football-data.org fixtures.
What the press says
  • Op welke zender kijk je FC Groningen – Ajax live?FC Groningen and Ajax compete in the Eredivisie. In the SN TV guide you can see on which channel this game can be seen. [...] Read on... On which channel do you watch FC Groningen live? appeared first on Soccernews.nl .Soccernews · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated
  • Vermoedelijke opstelling Ajax tegen FC Groningen: zware ingreep MíchelNo, it didn't look like Ajax against Hajduk Split ab-so-luut. For coach Míchel Sánchez to visit FC Groningen on Sunday, this must be completely different. Indeed, the Amsterdammers lose points again in the Euroborg, the Spaniard may soon be finished. And that's why he intervenes. Presumably Ajax against FC Groningen: Everything must be [...] Continue reading... The post Presumably Ajax against FC Groningen: major surgery Your emails.Soccernews · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated
Prediction
EstimateFC Groningen — Ajax
28 %
1 · FC Groningen
19 %
X · draw
53 %
2 · Ajax
In-house calculation, from this page's standings data alone: 8 matches played by FC Groningen, 8 matches by Ajax. Confidence: fair
The formula, in plain words — with this match's figures
  1. League average. 292 goals scored over 154 team-matches played (18 teams taken into account), i.e. μ = 1.90 goal scored per team per match. This is the reference point: everything that follows is expressed relative to it.
  2. Attacking and defensive strengths. Goals scored (or conceded) per match, divided by μ. 1.00 = exactly average; in defence, above 1.00 means “concedes more than average”.
    TeamGoalsRawKept
    FC Groningen — attack20 in 8 matches1.321.18
    FC Groningen — defence14 in 8 matches0.920.96
    Ajax — attack22 in 8 matches1.451.26
    Ajax — defence10 in 8 matches0.660.81
    The “Kept” column is the result of shrinkage towards the mean: weight = P / (P + 6), i.e. 0.57 for FC Groningen and 0.57 for Ajax. The rest of the weight goes to the league average. This is what stops a lone 5-0 from producing an attack at 3.3 times the average — and hence a 95% probability.
  3. Home advantage (γ). Measured on the league itself: 1.89 goal scored on average by the host against 1.77 by the visitor, over the 46 fixtures present in each team's last 5 matches. Raw ratio 1.07; shrunk towards 1 (weight 0.42, on the log of the ratio) then capped at 1.25 → γ = 1.03. Shrinkage goes towards 1, i.e. no advantage at all: while the sample is small, the model does not assert a home advantage it cannot measure.
  4. Venue correction, specific to each team. Drawn from the home/away split: points per match at the venue concerned are compared to points per match over all fixtures, with stronger shrinkage (weight = P / (P + 8)) and a bound of ±12%.
    FC Groningen at home: 1.75 pts/match versus 1.75 overall over 4 matches → ×1.000
    Ajax away: 3.00 pts/match versus 1.88 overall over 3 matches → ×1.120
  5. Expected goals. One side's attack is set against the other's defence. γ applies to the host only: applying it the other way round too would count the home advantage twice.
    λFC Groningen = 1.90 × 1.18 × 0.81 × 1.03 × 1.000 = 1.85
    λAjax = 1.90 × 1.26 × 0.96 × 1.120 = 2.55
  6. Poisson grid. Probability of every exact score from 0-0 to 8-8, assuming the two goal totals are independent, then adding up the cells: home win 28.0%, draw 18.7%, away win 53.3% — displayed rounded to whole numbers so that they add up to exactly 100. Most likely exact score in the grid: 1-2 (only 7.4%, which says enough about how unpredictable an exact score is).
Limits of this model — they are not anecdotal.
  • It only knows goals and a venue. Neither absences, suspensions, line-ups, fatigue, stakes, weather nor club context enter the calculation — while the other tabs of this page show that they matter.
  • The assumption that the two goal totals are independent is false in reality: it slightly underestimates tight scores, hence the draw.
  • γ is measured over a rolling window (each team's last 5 matches), not over the whole season.
  • The shrinkage constants (6, 60, 8) and the bounds are choices, not measurements. They were tuned to be cautious early in the season; they were not calibrated on a results history, as none is available here.
  • No after-the-fact evaluation has been made: at this stage, nobody knows whether this model is better or worse calibrated than another.
What other sources say
No external source has been collected for this match. That is the normal state: readings are taken by hand, and an empty box is better than an unverified figure.
This block shows probability estimates, not predictions, and carries no advisory value. The in-house estimate is the result of a formula applied to a small sample; the figures from external sources are reproduced as they were collected, without their method having been verified.

The full squad

The professional squad by position, captain marked with an armband.

Goalkeepers
  • Marc ter Stegen
  • Maarten Paes
  • Joeri Heerkens
Defenders
  • Lucas Rosa
  • Anton Gaaei
  • Owen Wijndal
  • Youri Baas
  • Daley Blind
  • Jofre Torrents
  • Aaron Bouwman
  • Dies Janse
  • Caio Henrique
Midfielders
  • Sofyan Amrabat
  • Julian Brandt
  • Davy KlaassenC
  • Oscar Gloukh
  • Jorthy Mokio
  • Abdellah Ouazane
Forwards
  • Kasper Dolberg
  • Marcos Leonardo
  • Tolu Arokodare
  • Steven Berghuis
  • Oliver Edvardsen
  • Rayane Bounida
  • Viktor Tsyhankov
  • A. van Axel Dongen
This team's current captain could not be confirmed with certainty at the last check — no armband is shown above until the information is reliable.
Squad last verified on 1 Sep 2026 — source: official club website (ajax.nl, Ajax 1 page) supplemented by BeSoccer.

What has been said recently

Chronological feed of verified information about the club.

rss18 Oct 2026
Taylor and Ajax code
Source: Corriere dello Sport
rss18 Oct 2026
"Cruive under pressure after "bizar" experiment with "Ajax"
Source: Soccernews
rss18 Oct 2026
Presumably Ajax against FC Groningen: Major procedure Míchel
Source: Soccernews
rss18 Oct 2026
The most expensive honorary division player does not yet convince: "I don't think Marcos Leonardo is an Ajax pit."
Source: NOS Voetbal
rss17 Oct 2026
Nejasmic enjoys victory Hajduk Split on Ajax
Source: Soccernews
rss17 Oct 2026
"Ajax looks at Feyenoord "
Source: Soccernews
Transfers2 Sep 2026
Ajax and AS Monaco have agreed a season-long loan for Germany international centre-back Thilo Kehrer, presented by sporting director Jordi Cruijff as an experienced player used to the pressure of the very highest level and intended to create healthy competition in defence.
Source: Ajax
Transfers1 Sep 2026
On deadline day, Ajax also secured a season-long loan for Ivorian winger Simon Adingra, from Sunderland and still finishing his recovery, as well as one for young left winger Leo Salazar (Espanyol), with a €1m purchase option.
Source: NOS
Result30 Aug 2026
Ajax won 4-0 away at promoted Telstar on matchday 4, a clear win achieved after a laboured first half.
Source: Wanneerspeelt
Club30 Aug 2026
Míchel was delighted with the free arrival of Sofyan Amrabat, whom he calls a world-class player expected to bring balance, leadership and defensive solidity, while confirming that a winger able to make the difference one-on-one would still be signed.
Source: Voetbal International
Club30 Aug 2026
Ajax won comfortably 4-0 away at newly promoted Telstar in the Eredivisie, after a disappointing first half.
Source: AT5
Club27 Aug 2026
Ajax qualified for the Conference League league phase by beating FC Sion 5-3 in the return leg, 9-5 on aggregate over the two matches.
Source: NOS
News last verified on 18 Oct 2026. Sources: sports press (L'Équipe, Le Parisien, Foot Mercato, regional press…) and official club websites — see the link on each item.
Editorial content (playing style, mood, absences, external prediction sources) last verified on 3 Sep 2026. The standings/form data above are refreshed automatically — as is the 1/X/2 estimate, recomputed on every view.