John van ‘t Schip has announced Ajax’s line-up. The coach opts for Silvano Vos against Brighton & Hove Albion as a replacement for the injured Branco van den Boomen. Furthermore, Devyne Rensch seems to start as left back; Anton Gaaei is also in the starting line-up. The Europa League match in the Johan Cruijff ArenA starts at 6:45 PM and can be seen on Veronica and ESPN2.
Diant Ramaj is under the bar for the Amsterdam team. The defense is formed by Anton Gaaei, Josip Sutalo, Jorrel Hato and Rensch. In midfield, Vos and Kenneth Taylor are behind number 10 Kristian Hlynsson. Steven Berghuis (right) and Steven Bergwijn (left) cover the flanks, while Brian Brobbey is the striker.
A major setback for the Amsterdam team is the knee injury of Van den Boomen, who has been active in midfield in recent games. “He has a very good ball from the middle to the wingers, which allows you to gain speed in the game,” Van ‘t Schip said at ESPN. “That is a quality of Branco, but I don’t want to talk about it too much, because he is not there.”
The arrival of Van ‘t Schip seems to have had an immediate positive effect on Ajax, which won its first two matches under the new coach. Van ‘t Schip still finds it difficult to say to what extent confidence at Ajax has increased. “It’s a week, with two games and four training sessions. You won twice, that’s nice and good for confidence. We also need to build on that, but it is still too early to say.”
Confidence will be high at Brighton after the convincing 2-0 win over Ajax in England. Manager Roberto De Zerbi cannot have Tariq Lamptey at his disposal, but on the other hand there is the return of Pervis Estupiñán. The Ecuadorian left wing-back played his last match due to injuries on September 30. “Maybe he can play part of the match,” De Zerbi said. “I don’t want to take a risk with him, but we don’t have many options in his position.”
De Zerbi has also heard that Ajax has gotten into better shape since the match in Brighton. “They have won two games in a row in the Eredivisie. In terms of enthusiasm, courage and attitude, I think we will meet a different team. In terms of playing style, I think it’s clear what they want to do on the pitch. They have good players and I think it will be a very different match, but we are also capable of playing a good match.”
Ajax line-up: Ramaj; Gaaei, Sutalo, Hato, Rensch; Fox, Hlynsson, Taylor; Berghuis, Brobbey, Bergwijn.
Brighton & Hove Albion line-up: Bridge; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Gross; Milner, Dahoud; Adingra, Fati, Mitoma, João Pedro