Sparta Rotterdam vs Ajax Prediction & Betting Tips

Recent form

Ajax's last few weeks have swung wildly. They beat Willem II 5-1 and won 5-1 at Fortuna Sittard, but also lost 4-0 at Telstar and 1-3 at home to PSV. That's a team capable of scoring freely but not always tight at the back.

Sparta Rotterdam: 20 completed matches; Ajax: 20 completed matches.

Sparta Rotterdam

20 matches

Win

20% 4 / 20

Draw

30% 6 / 20

Loss

50% 10 / 20

Scored

30

Conceded

41

Difference

-11

Ajax

20 matches

Win

65% 13 / 20

Draw

20% 4 / 20

Loss

15% 3 / 20

Scored

52

Conceded

26

Difference

+26

Sparta's form has been harder going. Over their last 20 matches they've won just four times, with ten defeats, and they've shipped 41 goals in that spell. Their home displays haven't offered much of a refuge either, with defeats to Feyenoord and Heerenveen mixed in among the draws.

Neither side looks settled defensively at the moment, which usually points towards goals at both ends.

Comparative Team Statistics: Sparta Rotterdam vs Ajax

Head-to-head

Ajax have the better of this fixture historically, including a 4-0 win back in March. But the two meetings before that were draws, 3-3 and 1-1, so the recent head-to-head record is closer than the overall pattern suggests.

Where they stand

Ajax sit fifth with 14 points from seven games, having scored 21 and conceded just nine. Sparta are down in 12th with five points, and their goal difference is well into negative territory at 10 for and 17 against.

That gap in the table lines up with the underlying form each side has been showing.

Players to watch

J. Brandt has scored four in seven for Ajax this season, level with Sparta's own top scorer M. Zonneveld on the same tally. O. Gloukh has been Ajax's main creator with four assists, with K. Dolberg not far behind. Sparta's B. Kuipers has chipped in with three assists of his own.

Sparta Rotterdam:

Best scorers:

M. Zonneveld - 4

Best assist providers:

B. Kuipers - 3

Ajax:

Best scorers:

J. Brandt - 4

Best assist providers:

O. Gloukh - 4

K. Dolberg - 3

Penalty cards:

A. Ouazane x 2

D. Klaassen x 2

Y. Baas x 2

A handful of Ajax players, A. Ouazane, D. Klaassen and Y. Baas, each carry two yellow cards from their last seven league games, a disciplinary note worth keeping an eye on without reading too much into it.

How it could play out

Ajax carry the bigger threat going forward, and the head-to-head history leans their way too, including that 4-0 win in March. But Sparta have shown they can compete for spells, drawing 3-3 with Ajax last October and picking up points against decent sides at home.

Given Ajax's shaky defensive moments away from base and Sparta's struggles at both ends, goals feel like the more predictable part of this one, even if the outright result is harder to call.