Erik ten Hag has announced the line-up of Ajax for the duel with his old club FC Utrecht. Mohammed Kudus has a base with the Amsterdammers for the first time since March 7. Ajax hopes to take the penultimate step towards the national championship against FC Utrecht. If the leader wins and also turns out to be too strong for AZ on Sunday, the title is a fact. The game, which was canceled in February due to winter weather, starts on Thursday-evening at 6:45 PM.
Apart from Daley Blind, whose season is over due to an ankle injury, and the suspended André Onana, Ten Hag can use all his players. Just like during the cup final against Vitesse (2-1) on Sunday, Noussair Mazraoui is part of the match selection. The right back has not played since February 13, after sustaining damage to his eyesight when he hit a ball in his eye. Against Vitesse he stayed on the bench for ninety minutes and this time he also starts as a substitute.
The question beforehand was whether Ten Hag would choose Neres or Antony in the vanguard. In De Kuip, Neres came in three minutes before the end, after which he scored the winning goal in injury time. He is now being rewarded for that contribution to the cup final. The biggest surprise, however, is the base of Kudus, which is at the expense of Davy Klaassen. Utrecht takes on the same line-up as on Sunday, April 11 against Feyenoord (1-2 loss).
Ajax setup: Stekelenburg; Rensch, J. Timber, Martinez, Tagliafico; Álvarez, Kudus, Gravenberch; Neres, Haller, Tadic
Line-up FC Utrecht: Oelschlägel; Ter Avest, Van der Maarel, Janssen, Warmerdam; Maher, Gustafson, Van Overeem; Church, Of the Region, Boussaid.