This weekend, PSV plays a topper in name and position. The main squad will visit Ajax, which is in second place in the Eredivisie. The Amsterdammers won just last Wednesday against Feyenoord (0-2) and will be full of confidence against the unbeaten team of Peter Bosz.
PSV is flawlessly at the top of the Eredivisie with thirty points from ten games. No doubt they are not dissatisfied with the season start in Amsterdam either. Ajax won seven of nine matches, lost to NAC Breda (2-1) and played a draw against Go Ahead Eagles (1-1).
Historically, the two teams are not inferior to each other. Since the introduction of professional football in 1954, the balance between PSV and Ajax has been exactly the same. Both teams won 66 times, with a goal difference of 273-273. That picture has changed in recent seasons, though. PSV is unbeaten in the last seven official matches against the Amsterdammers (5W-2G-0V).
The last defeat dates back to Jan. 23, 2022, when they lost 2-1 at home. Mario Götze then scored for the Eindhoven players. Last season’s match in Amsterdam ended in a 1-1 draw. Luuk de Jong scored the equalizer in the 34th minute, after Steven Berghuis had opened the scoring 15 minutes earlier. In the Eredivisie, PSV is the only team with a positive result against Ajax.
Luuk de Jong
It is not very surprising that especially Luuk scored, because he does that more often against Ajax. Only Henk Groot (11) and Ruud Geels (10) scored more often in the Topper than the PSV captain (9). In total, he scored 10 goals against the Amsterdammers. In the 2010-2011 season, he led FC Twente to victory in the final of the Johan Cruyff Schaal with a goal. In 2018, Luuk began a now seven-game run in which he scored each time against Ajax-an unmatched feat.
Johan Cruijff ArenA
Yet PSV has been less successful in the Johan Cruijff ArenA lately. Only one of the last eight matches was won. In the Eredivisie matches in Amsterdam, Ajax has a better balance: PSV won 22 times in the capital, drew 11 times and 35 times Ajax drew the longest. Ajax is also in form in its own stadium; in the last 18 home games Ajax did not lose, with 12 wins and 6 draws. The last time PSV won in Amsterdam was on Nov. 6, 2022, with a 1-2 victory thanks to goals from Luuk de Jong and Érick Gutiérrez.
